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By the Same flUTHoi^. 
 
 -•♦•- 
 
 THE RAID FROM BEAUSEJOUR, 
 and How the Carter Boys Lifted 
 the Mortgage. Two Stories of 
 Acadie. Illustrated, . . . .$100 
 

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REUBE DARE'S SHAD BOAT 
 
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 A Tale of the Tide Country 
 
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 (D 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS 
 
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 » : 
 
 NEW YORK : HUNT & EATON 
 
 CINCINNATI: CRANSTON & CUKTS 
 
 1895 
 
Copyright by 
 
 HUNT & EATON, 
 
 1895. 
 
 22898 
 
 Composition, clectrotyping, 
 
 printing, and binding by 
 
 Hunt & F:atc)n, 
 
 150 Fifth Ave., New York. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAfiE 
 
 The Dido Goes Adrift 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Red Bull 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Chase of the Dido 32 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Cave by the Tide 41 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 A Prison House 53 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Blue Jar 63 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Mart Candy Hacks the Shad Net 75 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 A Midnight Visitor 86 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Dido's First Fishing Trip 96 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Besieged on the Sand Spit 1 07 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Foiling the Sharks 115 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Shot from the Rocks 125 
 
 CHAPTER Xlll. 
 Candy is Rescued from the Honey Pots 135 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Will and Reube bent their bodies to the pull Frontispiece 
 
 PAGE 
 
 "She'sadrift I" he shouted. "Come on I Come on!" 19 
 
 The bull swerved slightly and shot past 27 
 
 Will marched ahead, carrying the torch 52 
 
 It was coin — all coin ! 67 
 
 Then came the shining, silvery sides of a dozen shad. . 104 
 " I think we'll make it," he said to himself 119 
 
REUBE DARE'S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 A Tale of the Tide Country. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The "Dido" Goes Adrift. 
 
 THE road from Frosty Hollow to 
 Westcock, after climbing the hill 
 by the red creek and passing Mrs. Car- 
 ters yellow cottage, ran through a piece 
 of dark and ancient fir woods. With the 
 sighing of the firs there mixed a deeper 
 sound, the voice of the wild tides of the 
 changing Tantran^ar, unseen and far be- 
 low. Turning sharply to the right, the 
 road presently emerged from the woods 
 and came upon a very different picture 
 from that which it had left behind. It 
 traversed the face of a long, wide, steep 
 slope of upland, set here and there with 
 a gray or white cottage, here and there a 
 
10 
 
 RKUBE dare's SHAD BOAT. 
 
 little grove. From the upland foot a 
 mile-wide belt of marsh stretched to the 
 waters of the open bay. The pale-green 
 marsh was divided sharply from the yel- 
 low and flashing waves by the long 
 lines of the dike, to which it owed its ex- 
 istence as good dry land. At intervals 
 could be seen small creeks winding 
 through the grassy level. Every creek 
 mouth formed a little haven, clustered 
 about with net reels, and crowded with 
 the boats of the shad fishers. 
 
 Out from the whispering wood and 
 into the fresh June sunlight of the open 
 came two tallish youths, walking slowly 
 and talking with the joyous zest of old 
 friends who had been long parted. The 
 older-looking of the two was Will Carter, 
 just home from college for the summer 
 vacation. Two years of college life had 
 changed him little. He was the same 
 ?:lim, thoughtful, discreet, yet blithely 
 dauntless lad who had lifted the mort- 
 gage from his mother's farm and punished 
 the ruffian Baizley, and softened the hard 
 
THE "DIDO GOES ADRIFT. 
 
 II 
 
 old heart of Mr. Hand.'^* College study 
 had increased the somewhat scholarly 
 pallor of his face, but college athletics 
 had added poise and grace to the move- 
 ments of his well-knit muscles. He had 
 hastened home to his mrther immedi- 
 ately on the close of the college, leaving 
 his brother Ted to take a month's canoe 
 trip through the inland waters. 
 
 Will's present companion, Reuben 
 Dare, was a chum only second to Ted in 
 his love. Reube Dare was just eighteen. 
 He was about the same height as Will, 
 but of a much heavier build. His was 
 also a heavier and slower nature, but one 
 of faithful loyalty and courage combined 
 with strong common sense. His hair 
 was light like Will's, but his face was 
 round and ruddy. At a hasty glance 
 one might fancy that he was good- 
 natured to the verge of being " soft," but 
 there was a steady, controlling gleam in 
 
 * Professor Roberts has already told the spirited story of 
 " How the Carter Boys Lifted the Mortgage," in a volume, The 
 Raid from Beausijotir^ which is published by Hunt & Eaton, 
 New York. 
 
12 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 his light gray eyes which made folk very 
 slow to presume on his good nature. In 
 fact, his eyes gave one the peculiar im- 
 pression of having reached full manhood 
 before the rest of his face. He swung 
 his long arms loosely as he walked, and 
 occasionally he stumbled in the ruts, being 
 too much absorbed in watching his com- 
 rade's words to note just where he was 
 stepping. 
 
 It had long been Reube Dare's keen- 
 est ambition to put himself through col- 
 lege, but the poverty of his widowed 
 mother — the population of that land of 
 sailors and fishermen is largely made up 
 of widows — had stood sternly in the way. 
 The success of the Carter boys, how- 
 ever, in reclaiming that rich marsh by 
 the creek had proved a strong stimulus, 
 and given him new hopes, with results 
 which this story will show. 
 
 All at once Will Carter, who had been 
 talking eagerly for the last half hour, 
 stopped short, wiped his fore head, and 
 perched himself on the rail fence under a 
 
THE "DIDO " GOES ADRIFT. 
 
 13 
 
 shady roadside maple. Reube leaned 
 against the fence, and took off his round 
 straw hat. 
 
 " Now, Reube," said Will, " it's your 
 turn. I've talked myself dry, and gab- 
 bled right along like the ' crick ' at low 
 water. Your letters, you old oyster, have 
 told me mighty little. What have you 
 been up to all winter .?" 
 
 " Building my shad boat," answered 
 Reube. 
 
 " Mother told me something about it. 
 It's great, old man!" said Will. "But 
 you don't mean to say you built her all 
 yourself." 
 
 " Well, pretty near," replied his friend. 
 " Old Chris Boltenhouse helped me with 
 the frame, and set me rio-ht whenever I 
 got In a muddle. It was hard work, but 
 I tell you. Will, it was so interesting I 
 could hardly take time to eat. I've 
 thought of nothing else for months, ex- 
 cept when I was worrying over mother's 
 eyes, and now — " 
 
 " I heard about your mother's trouble 
 
H 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 with her eyes," interrupted Will, sym- 
 pathetically. " I do hope it's not going 
 to be serious." 
 
 " Worries me a lot," said Reube.gloom- 
 ily. And then, his face brightening 
 again, he went on," But now I've got her 
 done, and rigged and tarred and afloat at 
 Wood Creek landinsf." 
 
 " Reube," interrupted Will again, and 
 this time in a tone of severe surprise, 
 " what a singular way to treat your 
 mother ! I cannot imagine that digni- 
 fied lady in any such absurd situation as 
 you speak of." 
 
 "Come off!" retorted Reuben, very 
 literally, as he caught at Will's ankle 
 and, with a quick twist, jerked him from 
 his perch. " I'm not talking of mother, 
 but of the Dido, and I say there's not a 
 trimmer craft will go shad fishing from 
 Westcock this season. I tell you, Will, 
 I've just put my heart into that boat. 
 If it were not for that grove of Barnes's 
 we could see her now, lying with the 
 others, in the mouth of the creek ; and 
 
 "i-i 
 
rHE "DIDO GOES ADRIFT. 
 
 15 
 
 even at this distance you could pick her 
 out from the rest." 
 
 " Well," said Will, " let's get along and 
 inspect her as soon as possible. I'm as 
 tickled about her as if I'd built her my- 
 self; and I'm going to help you with the 
 fishing all I can, as my holiday diversion. 
 Did she cost you much ? Is she going to 
 pay, like new marsh ? " 
 
 " If she has a lucky summer," answered 
 Reube — "" and they do say there's going 
 to be a great run of shad this season — 
 I'll have her all paid for and quite a lump 
 of money in the bank this fall." 
 
 " And then ! " said Will, in a voice of 
 joyous anticipation. " What then ? Col- 
 lege with us, for the winter term, any- 
 way ! And maybe a scholarship that 
 will still further simplify matters ! " 
 
 "No!" exclaimed Reube, shaking his 
 head gravely. " No college for me till I 
 have had mother away to Boston or 
 New York, to get her eyes properly seen 
 to." 
 
 Will's face fell a little. "That's so. 
 
fr 
 
 i6 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD liOAT. 
 
 old man. The eyes must be fixed up 
 first of all, of course. But if the boat's a 
 success, another season will straighten it 
 all out, eh ? And when you come to 
 college you'll be a freshman, while I'm a 
 senior ! Won't I haze you, though ? " 
 
 " Come and practice a bit now ! " said 
 Reube, grimly. 
 
 Will ignored this invitation. 
 
 "What did you say you called the 
 boat ? " he queried. 
 
 " The Dido" answered Reube. 
 
 " Imagine the stately queen of Car- 
 thage going out shad fishing ! " chuckled 
 Will. " What struck you to choose that 
 for a name ? " 
 
 " O," said Reube, gravely, " it will serve 
 to keep my aspirations before my mind's 
 eye, even when I am occupied in the pro- 
 saic task of splitting shad." 
 
 At this moment a long, shambling fig- 
 u''e was seen climbing a fence some dis- 
 tance down the hill, to the left of our 
 pedestrians. Long, lank black hair fell 
 on his shoulders from beneath a black 
 
THE " DIDO GOES ADRIFT. 
 
 17 
 
 and greasy slouch hat. Immediately the 
 fellow disappeared in a choke-cherry 
 thicket, after turning a furtive, swarthy 
 face for one moment toward the road. 
 
 " How's your hereditary enemy be- 
 having himself these days, Reube ? " in- 
 quired Will. 
 
 " Well," said Reube, " Mart Candy's 
 Mart Gandy, same as he always was. But 
 it seems to me that of late he has been 
 troubling his neighbors less and himself 
 more than he used to. They say he's 
 seldom quite sober. He's left us alone 
 pretty much all winter, though he did 
 shoot one of my best sheep in the upper . 
 pasture along in the first of the spring." 
 
 "But didn't you punish him for it.?" 
 asked Will, indignantly, glaring back at 
 the cherry trees wherein Gandy had van- 
 ished. 
 
 "I didn't actually catch him, or I would 
 have," said Reube. " And I didn't want 
 to have him taken up, for, bad lot as he 
 is, he does look after his mother and 
 sisters in a kind of a way, and he is all 
 
i8 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 1'^ 
 
 they have to depend on ; for his drunken 
 old father has become a regular idiot, 
 doing nothing but sit in the sun, pick 
 at his beard, and whimper for a drink." 
 
 By this time they had reached the top 
 of a knoll whence the whole shore line 
 was visible. 
 
 " There's the DiWo/ " exclaimed Reube, 
 proudly, turning with a sweep of the 
 hand toward the mouth of Wood Creek. 
 But the words ended in a cry of anger 
 and anxiety. " She's adrift ! " he shouted. 
 *^ Come on ! Come on ! We must catch 
 her before she gets out of the creek. The 
 wind's right down the bay !" 
 
 As he spoke he vaulted over the fence 
 and started on a run across the fields. 
 Will was at his side in an instant. 
 
 "How can it have happened?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " Candy's work, I'll be bound ! " mut- 
 tered Reube, between his teeth; and his 
 eyes grew pale and bright like steel. 
 
•♦She's adrift! " he shouted. " Come on ! Come on!" 
 
trrr 
 
 msaam 
 
THE RKI) liULL. 
 
 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Red Bull. 
 
 'TPHE short cut which Reube was tak- 
 ■^ ing across the fields and marshes 
 was calculated to diminish by a good 
 half mile the distance which separated 
 him from his beloved boat. But it was 
 a path beset with obstacles. Will Car- 
 ter saw all these — the long strip of bog 
 and alders at the foot of the upland ; 
 then the gluey stretch of " broad-leaf " 
 marsh, passable enough at a later season, 
 but now a mire with the spring rains ; 
 and beyond, furrowing the firm levels of 
 young timothy and clover, the windings 
 of a creek which he knew was, in most 
 places, too wide to jump, and too deep to 
 ford. With what breath he could spare 
 — for his excited comrade was setting a 
 terribly stiff pace — he spasmodically ex- 
 claimed, " We'd save time, Reube, by 
 keeping to the road. We'll be tangled 
 up and stuck here the first thing we 
 
22 
 
 REUUE dare's shad BOAT. 
 
 W 
 
 know ; and the Dido will be off on her own 
 hook to seek the ruins of Carthage." 
 
 But Reuben made no answer. He ^ 
 saw no obstacles. All he could see was 
 the far-off red stream, with the Dicio, 
 only a little way inside the line of the 
 dikes, veering gently and aimlessly from 
 one green bank to the other, but steadily 
 creeping seaward with the current. Well 
 he knew how soon, with the falling tide, 
 this current would quicken its pace. 
 Once let the D/do get outside the creek, 
 and he knew not what might happen to 
 her. She would certainly be off down 
 the bay at a speed which it appalled him 
 to think of. 
 
 And now, running in grim silence, 
 Reube and Will drew near the foot of 
 the uplands. Heavily, and with no waste 
 of energy, they flung themselves over 
 a peculiarly massive rail fence, and 
 entered a spacious pasture. The field 
 was dotted with mossy hillocks and a 
 few low spruce bushes, between which 
 the grass grew short and thick. Two or 
 
THE RED BULL. 
 
 23 
 
 three wide-armed maple trees, standing 
 far apart, relieved the vacancy of the 
 sloping expanse, which ended in a broad 
 fringe of alder swamp, spreading its lab- 
 yrinth of black roots and bog holes a 
 hundred yards out upon the marsh. 
 
 As they ran, threading their way among 
 the bushes, and springing from hillock to 
 hillock, they heard an ominous grunting 
 bellow on their right, and turning sharply 
 they saw a large dark-red bull stepping 
 out from under the shade of a maple 
 tree. The animal bellowed again, deep 
 in his throat ; and running his horns 
 into the nearest mound, tossed into the 
 air a little shower of turf and moss. This 
 was an honest challenge, but our runners 
 were in no mood to accept it. 
 
 " This seems to be his bullship's pri- 
 vate domain ! " panted Will. " I wonder 
 if he's really as mad as he looks, or just 
 bluffing?" 
 
 " No bluffing there ! " muttered Reube, 
 in a voice of anxious concern. " It's 
 Barnes's bull, and he means every word 
 
24 
 
 »-' 
 
 REUUE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 1,1 
 
 of it ! We're in a muss, and we've just 
 got to run for all we're worth. I wish 
 we'd stuck to the road ! " 
 
 As he spoke the bull, seeing his chal- 
 lenge unanswered, charged like a great 
 red thunderbolt. The boys rose into a 
 fine burst of speed ; but ere they were 
 halfway across the field Reube felt his 
 legs and wind failing. He vowed in- 
 wardly that he would not, could not 
 break down, and he wondered in his 
 heart how Will was holding out. Will 
 w^as a little ahead, being the lighter run- 
 ner ; but his pace was flagging, and the 
 bull was now gaining upon them with 
 dreadful rapidity. Under fair conditions 
 the fierce and active animal could have 
 given his rivals a hard race ; but now, 
 fagged from their long run down the hill, 
 they were no match for him. He was 
 not more than fifty feet behind them, 
 when their course took them right under 
 one of those spreading maples. 
 
 "No use!" gasped Will. "Up with 
 you, Reube ! " And springing desper- 
 
THE RED BULL. 
 
 ^5 
 
 ately into the air, he cau^jht a branch 
 and swung himself up into safety. 
 
 But Reube was not one who could 
 change his purpose thus rapidly. " The 
 Dido!'' he groaned ; and, pausing under 
 the tree, he glanced irresolutely from the 
 sea to his pursuer. 
 
 "Come up, quick!" yelled Will, his 
 voice as sharp and inflexible as an ax 
 blade. Reube saw that there was no 
 help for it. His eyes glared fury at his 
 pursuer, as a tiger glares at the hunters 
 when he reluctantly retires before them, 
 and he started to climb the tree. But 
 his stubbornness was all but fatal. He 
 grasped at a branch, and, missing his 
 hold, fell back. He repeated the attempt, 
 this time more eagerly, but again he 
 would have missed and would have felt 
 the bull's horns pinning him to the tree 
 had it not been for Will's readiness of 
 action. Locking his legs between two 
 branches. Will reached down, grasped his 
 comrade under the shoulders, and with 
 a mighty effort swung him around to 
 
26 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 the Other side of the trunk. The bull 
 swerved slightly and shot past. Half 
 climbing, half dragged up by Will, Reube 
 found himself safe among the branches 
 ere the bull had checked its rush and re- 
 turned to the attack. 
 
 " You saved me that time. Will," said 
 Reube, in a somewhat shaky voice, grasp- 
 ing his companion's hand and wringing it 
 hard. " But that was an awful grip of 
 yours. I think every finger took a piece 
 out of me ! " 
 
 Will grinned inscrutably, and it 
 flashed across Reube's mind that the se- 
 verity of the grip had had some connec- 
 tion with his own obstinate delay in 
 seeking safety. But the next instant all 
 else was forgotten in his anxiety about 
 the Dido, which was plainly visible 
 through an opening in his leafy refuge. 
 The boat had grounded for a moment on 
 a grassy point, and now the quickening 
 current wrenched her off again and car- 
 ried her with slow gyrations beyond the 
 very last of the landing slips. Fifteen 
 
 
The bull swerved slightly and shot past. 
 
^ M 
 
THE RED BULL. 
 
 29 
 
 ■1 ■! ':';', 
 
 minutes more, at this rate, and she would 
 be in the open. 
 
 " I can't stand this, Will ! I must try 
 another dash," he groaned. 
 
 Immediately beneath was the bull, 
 snorting and bellowing, thrusting with 
 his great fo:ehead against the trunk, and 
 pawing the young turf so energetically 
 that it seems as if he aimed at uprooting 
 the tree. 
 
 "All right, old man," said Will. "Run 
 right along now, and I'll wait here for 
 you. Or perhaps you will mount the 
 gentle steed beneath us and ride to your 
 destination." 
 
 To this Reube vouchsafed no answer. 
 He sat silent on his branch, glowering 
 across the marshes, and eating his heart 
 in helpless wrath, while Will, stretched 
 face downward across the limbs, eyed the 
 bull pensively, and cudgeled his brains 
 for a way out of the dilemma. 
 
 Suddenly he straightened himself with 
 a radiant face, and exclaimed : 
 
 M have it, Reube! We'll trick his 
 
30 
 
 REURE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 exasperated bullship and catch the Dido 
 yet ! " 
 
 But while the words were yet on his 
 lips the bull lifted his head high, gazed 
 out across the field for a second or two, 
 and then dashed off at the same terrific 
 gallop which had so nearly proved dis- 
 astrous to our heroes. He had seen a 
 burly, red-shirted figure traversing the 
 upper corner of his field. It was seldom, 
 indeed, that anyone other than his mas- 
 ter, the only man he feared, presumed to 
 enter the precincts of his sway, and here, 
 in one morning, were three trespassers. 
 The bull, blind with rage, charged upon 
 the red-shirted figure, and the red-shirted 
 figure, after facing him for a few seconds, 
 turned and fled for the fence. 
 
 " It's John Paul ! He'll get away safe 
 enough," said Reube. " But what's your 
 plan ? " 
 
 "Got a better one by this time, old 
 man," replied Will, dropping out of the 
 tree — "just to cut while his bullship is 
 otherwise engaged." And side by side 
 
THE RED BULL. 
 
 31 
 
 )ld 
 
 Ihe 
 
 is 
 
 Ide 
 
 the two sped on toward the shelter of 
 the alders. 
 
 Before they got far the bull, having 
 routed red-shirt and snorted at him 
 loudly through the rails, turned, dis- 
 covered their flight, and came once more 
 thundering at their heels. But this time 
 he had allowed his rivals too much 
 handicap. Before he could get anywhere 
 near them Will and Reube were among 
 the alders. Once there, the big red bull 
 could not match their speed. He floun- 
 dered, foaming and grunting, through 
 the shallow pools, and the deeper ones 
 he had to skirt. 
 
 The boys, on the other hand, sprang 
 lightly from root to hillock, from hillock 
 to elastic, reedy tuft, swinging across the 
 pools on the long, bending stems of the 
 alders, and soon leaving their persecutor 
 far behind. They reached the fence, 
 vaulted it, emerged upon the open marsh, 
 and there before them, still halt a uiile 
 away, was the Dido, wheeling gracefully 
 out from the mouth of the creek. 
 
32 
 
 REUBE DARES SHAD BOAT. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Chase of the " Dido." 
 
 D EUBE Uttered a cry of something 
 -^^ like despair. 
 
 " Now, old man, what's the matter with 
 you } " queried Will, reprovingly. " Do 
 you suppose the Didds gone } Why, 
 you old chump, we'll take one of the 
 other boats and go after her. With this 
 wind we'll catch her before she goes half 
 a dozen miles. She won't get past the 
 Joggins, anyway, I'll bet you a red her- 
 
 nne! 
 
 r5 
 
 1" 
 
 Reube's face briMitened, beamed 
 broadly, and resumed its old boyish 
 frankness. 
 
 "Why, that's so!" said he. "That's 
 just what we'll do. What a perfect fool 
 I'd be sometimes, W^ill, if you didn't keep 
 an eye on me ! " 
 
 That half a mile across the marsh 
 proved a long one owing to the many 
 detours which our runners, now trotting 
 
THE CHASE OF THE " DH)0. 
 
 33 
 
 slowly and deliberately, were forced to 
 make by the windings of the full creek. 
 At last they reached the landing place 
 where the Dido had been moored. About 
 the rickety old wharf stood four or five 
 high reels, skeletons of light gray wood 
 wound with the dark-stained folds of the 
 shad nets. The fishino^ season was riijht 
 at hand, but had not yet begun. Around 
 the boats and the reels were many half- 
 obliterated footprints, left by the feet of 
 those who had been winding the nets and 
 pitching the seams of the boats. Of 
 fresh tracks there was but one set — the 
 tracks of some one with long, narrow feet, 
 who walked without turning out his toes. 
 To these tracks Reube pointed with 
 orim sicrnificance of resture. 
 
 " Yes," said Will, " I understand. Did 
 you ever see a plainer signature than 
 Mart Gandy makes with his feet.'^" 
 
 The smallest of the fishing boats at 
 the wharf was a light " pinkie " — a name 
 given by the Tantramar fishermen to a 
 special kind of craft with the stern 
 
 i 
 
 ' 
 
 
 I 
 
 I; « 
 
 m: 
 
 ! 
 
 r 
 
34 
 
 REUBE dare's SHAD BOAT. 
 
 pointed like the stem. The pinkie, 
 painted red and white instead of black- 
 ened with tar like the other boats, was a 
 good sailer. She belonged to Barnes, 
 the owner of the red bull ; and to Reube's 
 judicial mind it seemed appropriate that 
 she should be taken without leave. There 
 was a further inducement in the fact that 
 she could be got afloat more easily 
 than any of the other boats. The tide 
 had fallen so that her keel was high and 
 dry ; and the fine mud of Tantramar 
 gripped it with astonishing tenacity. But 
 after a few minutes of such straining as 
 made the veins stand out on Will's fore- 
 head, and brought a redness about 
 Reube's steel-gray eyes, she was afloat. 
 
 Up went her dainty jib; up went her 
 broad white mainsail ; and presently the 
 red-and-white pinkie with Reube at the 
 helm was nimbly threading the sharp 
 curves of the creek. After a succession 
 of short tacks the channel straightened, 
 and heelinsf far over with the strong wind 
 on her quarter the pinkie ran into the 
 
THE CHASE OF THE " DTDO. 
 
 35 
 
 open with the tawny surf hissing at her 
 gunwale. Reube held his course till they 
 were a couple of hundred yards out, 
 dreading some hungry shoals he knew of. 
 Then he let out the sheet, eased up on 
 the tiller, and put the pinkie's head 
 straight down the bay on the Dido's track. 
 Will loosened out the jib, belayed it, and 
 lay down on the cuddy in its shadow. 
 The Dido was out of sight beyond the 
 rocks and high oak trees of Wood Point. 
 
 A stern chase, as has been said from of 
 old, is a long chase ; and while the red- 
 and-white pinkie was scudding before 
 the wind and shearing the yellow waves 
 with her keen bow, Reube and Will had 
 to curb their impatience. They did not 
 even whistle for more wind, for they had 
 all the wind the pinkie could well endure. 
 When their ears had grown used to the 
 slap and crumbling rush of the foam- 
 wave past their gunwale they spoke of 
 Mart Gandy. 
 
 Reube Dare's father, whose farm ad- 
 joined that of the Gandys, had got him- 
 
 ^1 I 
 
 M 
 
 tf*' 
 
36 
 
 REU15E DARES SHAD 1U)AT. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 self em])roiled with old Gandy over the 
 location of the dividino- line. While 
 Reiibe was yet a very small boy old 
 Gandy had pulled down the dilapidated 
 line fence during one of Captain Dare's 
 absences, and had put up a new one 
 which encroached seriously on the Dares' 
 best field. On Captain Dare's return he 
 expostulated with Gandy ; and findino- 
 expostulation useless he quietly shifted 
 back the fence. Then his ship sailed on 
 a lonof voyaire to the Guano Islands of 
 the Pacific ; and while he was scorching 
 off the rainless coasts of northern Peru, 
 Gandy again took possession of the cov- 
 eted strip of field. From this voyage 
 Captain Dare came back with broken 
 health. He gave up his ship, settled 
 down on the farm overlooking the 
 marshes, and called in die arm of the law 
 to curb old Gaudy's aggression. The 
 fence had by this time been moved back- 
 ward and forward several times, each time 
 leavincr behind a redder and more threat- 
 eninor line of wrath. When the case came 
 
THE CHASE OF THE " DIDO.' 
 
 37 
 
 into court the outcome was a surprise to 
 both contestants. There were rummacfintr 
 out of old titles and unearthing of old 
 deeds, till Captain Dare's lawyer made it 
 clear not only that Gaudy's claim was un- 
 founded, but also that before the dispute 
 arose Gandy had been occupying some 
 three acres of the old Dare property. The 
 original grant, made a hundred years 
 earlier to Captain Dare's grandfather, re- 
 quired that the line should run down the 
 middle of old Gaudy's sheep pasture — a 
 worthless tract, but one which now ac- 
 quired value in Gandy's eye. Dowm the 
 pasture forthwith was the new fence run, 
 for Captain Dare, fired to obstinacy by 
 his neicrhbor's wanton airorression, would 
 take no less than his rights. Then, the 
 victory assured to him, the captain died, 
 leaving to his widow and his boy a feud 
 to trouble their peace. The farm was 
 productive, but for some years old 
 Gandy had vexed them with ceaseless and 
 innumerable small annoyances. When 
 the old man sank into imbecility, then his 
 
 
 I J 
 
 ;t I 
 
 
38 
 
 REUBE DARES SHAD BOAT. 
 
 son Mart, a swarthy and furtive strip- 
 lint^, who betrayed the blood of a far-off 
 Indian ancestor, took up the quarrel with 
 new bitterness. In Mart Gandy's dark and 
 narrow soul, which was redeemed from 
 utter worthlessness by his devotion to his 
 family, hatred of the Dares stood as a 
 sacred duty. It was his firm faith that 
 his father had been tricked by a conspir- 
 acy between judge, jury, and lawyers. 
 The persistency of his hate and the cun- 
 ning of his strokes had been a steady 
 check upon the prosperity of Reube and 
 his mother. 
 
 In answer to a rerhark of Reube on 
 this subject Will exclaimed, " But you've 
 got him all right this time, old man. 
 There can be no difficulty in identifying 
 those footprints." 
 
 Reube laughed somewhat sarcastically. 
 
 " Do you suppose," he inquired, *' that 
 the tide is going to leave them as they 
 are while we go after the Dido, fetch her 
 back, and then go and get those holes in 
 the mud examined by the authorities?" 
 
THE CHASE OF THE "DIDO. 
 
 39 
 
 "Well, perhaps my suggestion was 
 hasty," acknovvledged Will. 
 
 After an hour's run Wood Point was 
 left behind, and there was the Dido not 
 a mile ahead and well inshore. She had 
 been delayed in the eddies of the cove 
 below the Point. Reube gave a shout 
 of joy and twisted his helm to starboard, 
 while Will warned him to look out for 
 the mud flats with which the cove was 
 choked. 
 
 " O," said Reube, confidently, " I know 
 the place like a book." 
 
 The red-and-white pinkie was now 
 rapidly overhauling the vagrant craft 
 when a stiff current caught the latter and 
 she began to race along the curve of the 
 farther shore. Reube was anxious to 
 catch her before she should round the 
 next headland, and get back into rough 
 water. The headland was a low, humped 
 promontory of mingled plaster rocks and 
 yellowish sand, without a tree upon its 
 grassy crest. Shifting his course to in- 
 tercept the Dido, Reube steered the 
 
 
 K . 
 
 ; r 
 
40 
 
 REUUE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 pinkie straiijht for the point. Just then 
 the Dido was seen to give a lurch, stop 
 short, and keel over to the gunwale. 
 
 *' She's run aground !" cried Will. 
 
 " But we've got her safe and will sail 
 her back on next tide," said Reube, heav- 
 ing a sigh of relief as he saw that his 
 beloved craft stood still, refusing to be 
 rolled over by the push of the yellow tide 
 upon her ribs. 
 
 The pinkie was sailing at a great pace. 
 
 " Better take in the jib, Will," said 
 Reube. 
 
 W^ill sprang up to obey. Just as he 
 rose there was a stacreerincr shock. The 
 pinkie buried her nose in a hidden mud- 
 bank. The waves piled over her gun- 
 wales ; the mast bent without breaking, 
 like the brave, touo[h timber it was; and 
 Will shot overboard headlong into the 
 foam. 
 
THE CAVE BY THE TIDxil. 
 
 41 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Cave by the Tide. 
 
 A CTING instantly on the impulse of 
 ^^ an old sailor, Reube had sprung 
 forward almost with the shock, and 
 started to haul down the mainsail in 
 order to relieve the strain. The next 
 moment, however, while the half-lowered 
 sail was bulging and flapping, he leaped 
 into the bow to help Will. The latter 
 rose with a gasp and stood waist deep, 
 clinging to the bowsprit. His head and 
 arms were bedaubed grotesquely with 
 the mud into which he had plunged with 
 such violence. He gazed sternly at 
 Reube, and exclaimed : 
 
 " Perhaps you'll claim that you know 
 these mud banks as well as I do ! I 
 earnestly hope you may, some day, gain 
 the same intimate knowledire of them ! " 
 
 Then he climbed aboard and finished 
 the furling of the sails, while Reube 
 rolled convulsively in the bottom of the 
 
 » * 
 
 M , 
 
 If 
 
 fWR 
 
42 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 boat, unable to control his laughter. He 
 recovered himself only when Will trod 
 upon him without apology, and threat- 
 ened to put him overboard. 
 
 When the sails had been made snug, 
 and the pinkie bailed out, and the mud 
 cleaned with pains from Will's face and 
 hair and garments, there was nothing to 
 do but watch the Dido in the distance 
 and wait for the tide to fall. In another 
 half hour, or a little more, only a waste of 
 red flats and yellow pools separated the 
 two stranded boats. Reube took off his 
 shoes and socks, rolled his trousers up 
 high, and stepped overboard. These pre- 
 cautions were for Will superfluous ; so 
 he went as he was, and congratulated 
 himself on being able to defy all hidden 
 clam shells. Before he went, however, he 
 took the precaution to put out the pink- 
 ie's anchor, for which Reube derided him. 
 
 " The pinkie's no Western stern-wheel- 
 er, to navigate a field of wet grass ! " 
 said he. *' I fancy she'll wait here till 
 next tide all right ! " 
 
THE CAVE BY THE TH)E. 
 
 43 
 
 " Yes — but then ? " queried Will, lacon- 
 ically. 
 
 " Then," replied Reube, " we'll come 
 back for her with the Dido!' 
 
 " There's lots one never knows ! " said 
 Will, as he looked carefully to the an- 
 chor rope. And as things turned out it 
 was well he did so — a fact which Reube 
 had to acknowledge penitently. 
 
 The distance between the stranded 
 boats was little more than a quarter of a 
 mile, yet it took the boys some time to 
 traverse it. The bottom of the cove was 
 for the most part a deep and clinging 
 ooze, which took them to the knee at 
 every step, and held their feet with the 
 suction of an airpump. Here and there 
 were patches of hard sand to give them 
 a moment's ease ; but here and there, too, 
 were the dreaded " honey pots " for which 
 that part of the coast is noted, and to 
 avoid these they had to go most circum- 
 spectly. The " honey pot " is a sort of 
 quicksand in which sand is replaced by 
 slime — a bottomless quagmire which does 
 
 'M' 
 
 (I » 
 
 I 
 
44 
 
 r:^' 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 its work with inexorable certainty and 
 deadly speed. Both Reube and Will 
 knew the strange, ominous olive hue 
 staining the red mud over the mouths of 
 these traps, but they knew, also, that all 
 signs sometimes fail, so they took the 
 boathook with them and prodded their 
 path cautiously. At last, after wading a 
 long, shallow lagoon, the bottom of which 
 was thick with shells, and unfriendly to 
 Reube's bare feet, they reached the run- 
 away Dido. 
 
 Breathless with anxiety, Reube climbed 
 over the side, suddenly imagining all 
 sorts of damage and defilement. But his 
 darling was none the worse for her invol- 
 untary cruise. She had shipped some 
 muddy water, but that was all that Reube 
 could grumble at. Gandy had been too 
 shrewd to do anything that might look 
 like malice aforethoucrht. Ill a trice the 
 trim craft was bailed out and sponged 
 dry. Then Will admired her critically 
 from stem to stern, from top to keel, asking 
 a thousand learned questions by the way, 
 
TiiK (AVI-: i;y the tide. 
 
 45 
 
 and feelinji;; almost persuaded to build a 
 boat himself. But even this interestinir 
 procedure came to an end, and at length 
 the comrades threw themselves down on 
 the cuddy roof, and realized that they 
 were hungry. It was long past their din- 
 ner time. The tide was not yet at its 
 lowest ebb, and it would be four or five 
 hours ere they could hope to get the 
 boats aoain afloat. 
 
 The only thing they had to eat was a 
 pocketful of dried dulse which Reube 
 had brought with him. This they de- 
 voured, and it made them very thirsty. 
 They decided to go ashore and look for 
 a spring. Far away, on the crest of the 
 upland, were some houses, at which they 
 gazed hungrily, but the idea of leaving 
 the Dido and the pinkie for any such 
 long jaunt was not to be entertained for 
 a moment. As they again stepped out 
 into the mud Will repeated the precau- 
 tion which he had taken in re<j:ard to the 
 pinkie. He put out the little anchor, 
 and paid no heed to Reube's derision. 
 
 .1 IK 
 
46 
 
 REUliE DARE S SHAD HOAT. 
 
 To be sure, Reiibe was both owner and 
 captain, but Will stood not on ceremony. 
 
 Not far from high-water mark our 
 thirsty explorers found a clear, cold spring 
 bubbling out from beneath a white plaster 
 rock. The water was very hard, carrying 
 a great deal of lime in solution, and Will 
 lectured learnedly on the bad effect it 
 would have upon their stomachs if they 
 drank much of it. As usually happens, 
 however, this theorizing had small force 
 against the very practical fact of their 
 thirst. So they drank till they were per- 
 fectly satisfied, and were afterward none 
 the worse. This, Will insisted, was thanks 
 to the abundance of sorrel which they 
 found amid the grass near by, whose acid 
 was kind enough to neutralize the lime 
 which they had sw^allowed. 
 
 "But I say," urged Reube, "there are 
 folks back yonder who drink water like 
 this all their lives. The wells in this 
 plaster belt are all hard like this, and 
 some of the people who drink from them 
 live to over ninety." 
 
THE CAVE BV THE TIDE. 
 
 47 
 
 " That proves nothing," said Will, " ex- 
 cept that they are a long-lived stock. If 
 they had sense enough to go somewhere 
 else and drink soft water they might live 
 to over a hundred !" 
 
 Reube cared little for argument, always 
 finding it hard to know whether Will was 
 in earnest or not. He lazily changed the 
 subject. 
 
 " By the way," he remarked, " now's just 
 the chance to visit the cave at the end of 
 the Point ! " 
 
 " Cave ! " cried Will, jumping up from 
 the grass. ** What cave ? How can there 
 be a cave round here without me know- 
 ing it } " 
 
 " Why, I only heard of it myself last 
 fall," said Reube. " You see, the mouth 
 of it isn't uncovered till near low water; 
 and nobody comes near this point at any 
 time, there beinpf nothinof to come for, 
 and the shoals and eddies so troublesome. 
 I've sailed round here a good deal at high 
 and half tide, but no one comes near it 
 when tide's out. You see all the broken 
 
 i 
 
 ' I 
 
48 
 
 UEU15K DARKS SHAD 150AT. 
 
 rocks scattered away out across the flats 
 from the Point. And as for the *' honey 
 pots" between them — well, old Chris 
 Boltenhouse, who told me all about the 
 place last fall, said they were a terror. 
 You couldn't step without getting into 
 one. Chris also told me that the Aca- 
 dians, at the time of their expulsion, had 
 used the cave as a hiding place for some of 
 their treasures, and that when he was 
 a boy quite a lot of coin and silver orna- 
 ments had been found there." 
 
 "Queer, too," muttered Will, "how 
 things like that drop out of peoples minds, 
 come back, and are forgotten again ! Well, 
 let's look into the hole while we've eot 
 time ; " and the two ran hastily to the nar- 
 row end of the turf. 
 
 Over the slippery rocks below tide 
 mark they had to move more deliberately, 
 but in a short time they reached the foot 
 of the promontory and stood on the 
 verore of the flats not half an hour above 
 low water. Very villainous indeed looked 
 the flats, with the olive-hued menace 
 
ill 
 
 THE CAVE DV THE TIDE. 
 
 49 
 
 spread over them on every hand. But 
 there was no siorn of a cave. Scanninc^ 
 the rocks minutely, our explorers skirted 
 the whole front of the headland, but in 
 vain. Then they started to retrace their 
 steps, inveighing against the falsity of 
 traditions. But now, their faces being 
 turned, the rocky masses took on for them 
 a new configuration, and they discovered 
 a narrow strait, as it were, behind a jutting 
 bowlder. It was a most unlikely-looking 
 place for a cave entrance, but Will poked 
 his nose into it curiously. The next mo- 
 ment he chouted : 
 
 " Found ! " 
 
 Reube sprang to his side. There, 
 behind the sentinel rock, was a narrow, 
 triangular opening of about the height 
 of a man. Its base, some four feet wide, 
 was thickly silted with mud, and its sides 
 dripped forbiddingly. Will stepped in- 
 side, and then turned. 
 
 " It's darker than Egypt ! " he exclaimed. 
 " How are we going to explore it without 
 alight.?" 
 
50 
 
 REUIJIC DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 \ « 
 
 I 1 
 
 i 
 
 •' Ah," said Reube in tones of triumph, 
 " I've got ahead this time. Will ! I hap- 
 pened to bring a whole bunch of matches 
 from home in my pocket to supply the 
 Didos cuddy. And I picked up this on 
 the Point when you were running ahead 
 in such a hurry." And he drew a sliver 
 of driftwood pine from under his jacket. 
 
 "Good for you, old man!" cried Will, 
 joyously. In a second or two the sliver 
 was ablaze, and the explorers plunged 
 into a narrow passage whose floor sloped 
 upward swiftly. 
 
1 1 
 
 Will marched ahead carrying the torch. 
 
A TKISOX IIOL'SI:. 
 
 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 A Prison House. 
 
 T N their eacrcrness they forgot to look 
 -*■ around before (.'iitering the cave. 
 They forgot to look at the tide, which 
 had already turned and was creeping 
 swiftly over the treacherous levels. They 
 forgot everything except that they were 
 in the cave where once undoubtedly had 
 been Acadian treasures, and where, as 
 each dreamed in his heart and denied on 
 his lips, some remnant of such treasures 
 might yet He hidden. 
 
 Will marched ahead carrying the torch 
 and peering wMth eager enthusiasm into 
 every crevice. The cave was full of 
 crevices, br.t they were shallow and con- 
 tained nothinof of interest but some fair 
 crystals of selenite, which gleamed like 
 diamonds in the torchlight. A few of 
 these Reube broke off and pocketed as 
 specimens. The cave widened slowly as 
 it ascended, and the slope of its floor 
 
 5jS 
 
n 
 
 
 4 
 
 i:^ 
 
 54 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 kept it well drained in spite of the water 
 ceaselessly dripping from roof and walls. 
 Its shape was roughly triangular, and our 
 explorers sometimes bumped their heads 
 smartly in their haste. 
 
 Presently they reached a point where 
 a narrow gallery ran off from the main 
 passage. Which to take was the prob- 
 lem. 
 
 " It seems to me," said Reube, "that if 
 there was any of the old Acadians' stuff 
 here it would be most likely to be hid- 
 den in the smaller passage." 
 
 " Acadians' stuff ! " sniffed Will, sarcas- 
 tically. " A lot of that we'll find ! " 
 
 But, none the less, he acted on Reube's 
 suggestion, and led the way up the side 
 gallery. After running some twenty-five 
 feet the gallery turned a corner and 
 ended in a smooth, sloping face of rock. 
 There was no sign of crevice or hiding 
 place here. Across the sloping face of 
 the rock there ran a ledge about a foot 
 wide some five or six feet above the 
 floor, and the roof of the gallery at this 
 
A PRISON HOUSE. 
 
 55 
 
 point ascended steeply to a narrow and 
 longish peak. 
 
 " No risk of bumping our heads here," 
 said Will, as he flung the torchlight 
 along the ledge and showed its empti- 
 ness. 
 
 " Better hurry back and try if we can't 
 finish the main cave before the light goes 
 out," said Reube, pointing to the pine 
 sliver, already more than half consumed. 
 Shielding the flame with his hand to 
 make it burn more slowly. Will led the 
 way with quick steps back to the larger 
 gallery. This now became more inter- 
 esting. Its walls were strewn with most 
 suggestive-looking pockets, so to speak, 
 full of silt and oozy debris, into which 
 Will and Reube plunged their hands 
 hastily, expecting to find a coin or a sil- 
 ver candlestick in every one. So fasci- 
 nated were they by this task that they 
 paid no heed to the torch till it burned 
 down and scorched Will's finorers. He 
 gave a startled cry, but had presence of 
 mind enough not to drop it. To make it 
 
 ;■ 
 
56 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 last a little longer he stuck it on the point 
 of his knife, and then exclaimed, in atone 
 of disappointment : 
 
 " Reube, we must cfet out of this while 
 the lio^ht lasts — and that'll have to be 
 pretty quick ! " 
 
 " Rather ! " assented Reube. " Hark ! " 
 
 The word was barely out of his mouth 
 before the two lads were running for the 
 cave mouth, their heads bent low, their 
 hearts beating wildly. The sound which 
 they had caught was a hollow wash of 
 waves. In a few seconds the torch went 
 out, but there was a pale, glimmering 
 light before them, enough to guide their 
 feet. This puzzled them by its peculiar 
 tone, but in half a minute more they un- 
 derstood. It came filterinor through the 
 tawny tide which they found seething 
 into the cave's mouth and filling it to 
 the very top. Will gave a gasp of hor- 
 ror, and Reube leaned in silent despair 
 against the wall of the passage. 
 
 " The tide will fill this cave to the very 
 top, I believe," said he. 
 
A I'KISON HOUSE. 
 
 57 
 
 " Yes," answered Will, in a voice of 
 fixed resolve ; " there's nothing for it but 
 to try a long dive right out through the 
 mouth and into the rocks. We may get 
 through, and it's our only chance ! " 
 
 "Go on, then, Will. Hurry, before it's 
 too late ! And — have an eye to mother, 
 won't you?" Here a sob came into 
 Reube's voice. " You know I'm a poor 
 swimmer and no diver. Good-bye ! " and 
 he held out his hand. 
 
 But Will was coolly putting on his 
 coat again. 
 
 " I forgot that," said he, simply. " Well, 
 we'll find some other way, dear old man. 
 Bring along your matches ;" and he turned 
 back toward the depths of the cave. 
 
 For answer Reube merely gripped his 
 arm with a strong pressure and stepped 
 ahead with a lighted match. He could 
 not urge Will to carry out the plan just 
 proposed because in his heart, for all his 
 confidence in Will's powers as a swim- 
 mer, he could not believe it feasible. He 
 saw, in imagination, his comrade's bat- 
 
58 
 
 REUBE DARES SHAD BOAT. 
 
 tered body washing helplessly amonj.^ the 
 weedy and foaming rocks; while in the 
 cave, for all the horror of it, there would 
 certainly be some hours of respite — and 
 who couM say w^hat they might not de- 
 vise in all that time? He had a marvel- 
 ous faith in Will's resources. 
 
 In grim silence, and husbanding every 
 match with jealous care, they explored 
 the main cave to its end. Its end was a 
 horrid, round, wet hole, a few feet deep, 
 and not large enough to admit them side 
 by side. They looked each other fairly 
 in the eyes for the first time since that 
 one glance when they had learned that 
 they were entrapped. Reube's eyes were 
 stern, enduring — the eyes of one who had 
 known life long. The boy had all gone 
 out of them. Will's eyes looked simply 
 quiet and kind, but his mouth was set 
 and his lips w^ere white. 
 
 " This is just a rat hole, Reube," said 
 he. " We won't stay here anyway. Seems 
 to me it would be better to have room to 
 stand up and meet it like a man." 
 
A TRISON IIOUSK. 
 
 59 
 
 "Yes," replied Reube, his voice chok- 
 ing with a sort of exaltation at his com- 
 rade's courage; "we'll go back to the 
 little gallery with the high roof. We'll 
 get up on that ledge and we'll fight it out 
 with the water to the last gasp, eh ? It's 
 pretty tough — especially for mother ! " 
 
 " Well," said Will, with a queer, low 
 tone of cheerfulness which seemed to his 
 friend to mean more than cries and tears, 
 " when I think of mother and Ted it sort 
 of comes over me that I'd like to say my 
 prayers — eh ? " and for a minute or two, 
 standing shoulder to shoulder, he and 
 Reube leaned their faces silently against 
 the oozy rock in the darkness. Then, 
 lighting another match, they made all 
 haste possible back to the side gallery, 
 ascended it, and climbed upon the ledge. 
 Hardly had they got there when they 
 heard the tide whispering stealthily 
 about the entrance of the passage. They 
 felt that it was marking them down in 
 their new retreat. 
 
 When the next match blazed up — for 
 
Il ' 
 
 11 i 
 
 I.I. 
 
 
 ■1! 
 
 60 
 
 REUI3E DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 they could not long stand the darkness 
 with that creeping whisper in their ears 
 — Will gazed steadily at the peak of the 
 roof above his head. The match went out. 
 
 " Another ! " he cried, in a voice that 
 trembled with hope. 
 
 "What is it.'^" asked Reube, eagerly. 
 
 " Roots ! " shouted Will, leaping to his 
 feet. " Tree roots coming through the 
 roof up there ! We must be near the sur- 
 face, and there is evidently a fissure in 
 the rock filled up with earth. We'll dig 
 our way out with our knives and our 
 fingers yet !" 
 
 " But there are no trees on the Point," 
 urged Reube, doubtfully. 
 
 " Thunder, Reube ! but can't there be 
 old roots in the soil?" cried Will, im- 
 patiently. "Dig, man, dig!" And he 
 began clawing fiercely at the earth above 
 his head. Reube aided him with fervent 
 energy, and the earth, though hard and 
 clayey, came down about them in a 
 shower. Presently they could reach no 
 farther up. 
 
 \ 
 
A PRISON HOUSE. 
 
 6i 
 
 " We must cut footholds in this rock," 
 said Will. 
 
 The rock was plaster, but hard, and 
 this took time. When it was accom- 
 plished they again burrowed rapidly 
 toward the surface and air and light. 
 They were working in the dark now, be- 
 cause with the rise of tide in the cave the 
 air was growing close and suffocating. 
 Three times they had to cut new foot- 
 holds in the rock. They toiled in silence, 
 hearing only each other's labored breath 
 and the fallinof of earth into the water be- 
 neath them. The tide was now crawling 
 over the ledge where they had first taken 
 refuge. There it stopped ; but this they 
 did not heed. The fear of suffocation 
 was now upon them, blotting out the fear 
 of drowning. Their eyes and ears and 
 nostrils were full of earth. They worked 
 with but a blind half-knowledge of what 
 they were doing. All at once there 
 came a gleam of light, and Reube's hand 
 went through the turf. He clawed at the 
 
 sod desperately, and a mass of it came 
 5 
 
H 
 
 n 
 
 62 
 
 REUBK DARES SHAD BOAT. 
 
 down about their heads. It troubled 
 them not. There was the clear, blue sky 
 above them. A sweet wind caressed their 
 faces. They dragged themselves forth 
 and lay at full length on the turf with 
 shut eyes and swelling hearts. 
 
THE BLUE JAR. 
 
 63 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Blue Jar. 
 
 TT was some minutes before either spoke. 
 ^ All they knew was that they were once 
 more in the air and light. Then, with a 
 start, Reube sat up and looked about him. 
 He looked, of course, for the Dido. To 
 his inexpressible relief the cherished craft 
 was there in plain sight, riding safely at 
 her anchor, some fifty yards from shore. 
 And there, farther out, rode the pinkie. 
 Reube blessed his comrade's foresight. 
 
 " Will, where would the boats be now.^*" 
 said he, " if you hadn't insisted on anchor- 
 ing them?" 
 
 Will sat up and surveyed the situation, 
 thoughtfully clearing the mud from his 
 eyes with little bunches of grass. 
 
 " It was just as well we anchored them," 
 he assented. "And now that I've got 
 my wind, I think I had better swim out 
 to the Dido and bring her in for you. I 
 
/ / 
 
 ^ 
 
 \ 
 
 64 
 
 KKUHK DARK S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 feel as if I wanted a bath anyway ; don't 
 
 " I'll be with you in half a minute," said 
 Reube. *' But first I want to explore the 
 cave a little more. It seems to me we 
 came away in something of a hurry ! " 
 
 He let himself cautiously down in the 
 hole, feet first. 
 
 Will stopped his undressing and stared 
 at him in amazement. 
 
 " Are you crazy ? " he cried. " Do come 
 out of that beastly hole ! The idea of it 
 makes me quite ill ! " 
 
 " O, I r.i not going far," said Reube, 
 "and I won't begone long, either. Don't 
 be alarmed." 
 
 As his head disappeared Will ran to 
 the hole and looked down, anxiously and 
 curiously. He saw Reube groping in a 
 crevice filled with soft earth, about three 
 feet below the surface. 
 
 " What in the world are you after, 
 Reube?" he inquired. 
 
 " That ! " replied Reube the next in- 
 stant, holding aloft triumphantly a small 
 
THE BLUFC lAR. 
 
 65 
 
 blue jar of earthenware. " Take it, and 
 give me a lift out of this ! " 
 
 Will deposited the old jar reverentially 
 on the turf, and turned to help Reube up. 
 He half expected that the jar would van- 
 ish while his back was toward it; but no, 
 there it was, plain and palpable enough. 
 It had a cover set into the rim, and sealed 
 around the edges with melted rosin ; and 
 it was heavy. 
 
 Thrilling with suppressed excitement, 
 Reube and Will sat down with the jar 
 between them, and Reube proceeded to 
 chip away the rosin with his knife. Will 
 gazed at the operation intently. 
 
 " Probably some good old Evangeline's 
 pet jar of apple sauce ! " said he. 
 
 Reube ignored this levity, and chipped 
 away with irritating deliberation. At last 
 off came the cover. As it did so there 
 was a most thrilling jingling within, and 
 the boys leaned forward with such eager- 
 ness that their heads bumped violently 
 together. They saw stars, but heeded 
 them not, for in the mouth of the jar they 
 

 66 
 
 KKUIJE DARE S SHAD HOAT. 
 
 !!! 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 saw the yellow glint of a number of gold 
 coins. 
 
 "Well, dreams do sometimes come 
 true!" remarked Will. And Reube, 
 spreading out Will's coat, which lay close 
 at hand, emptied upon it the whole con- 
 tents of the jar. 
 
 It was coin — all coin ! There were a 
 few golden Louis, a number of Spanish 
 pieces, with silver crowns and livres 
 Tournois, amounting, according to such 
 hasty estimate as the boys could make, to 
 some five or six hundred dollars. 
 
 " That'll be three hundred dollars 
 apiece," said Reube, with eyes sparkling; 
 "and I'll be able to take mother to Bos- 
 ton and oro to collciye too !" 
 
 "Three hundred dollars apiece!" said 
 Will. " Indeed, I don't see what I had 
 to do with it. You found it. You had 
 nerve enouoh to take notice of it when 
 you were more than three quarters dead. 
 And you went back and got it. I've no 
 earthly claim upon it, old m.an. " 
 
 Reube set his jaw obstinately. 
 
 ^\ 
 
" 
 
 It- ! 
 
 % 
 
 5" 
 
 r 
 
 
 If 
 
 €# 
 
y 
 
 
 THE BLUE JAR. 
 
 69 
 
 '• Will," said he, " we were exploring the 
 cave in partnership. If you had found 
 the stuff, I'd have expected my share. 
 Now, you've got to go shares with me in 
 this, or I give you my word our friend- 
 ship ends ! " 
 
 " O, don't get on your dignity that way, 
 Reube," said Will. " If I must, why, I 
 suppose I must ! And if I can't take a 
 present from you, I don't see whom I 
 could take one from. But I won't take 
 half, because I didn't do half toward get- 
 ting it, and because you need it enough 
 sight more than I do. A couple of years 
 ago I'd have spoken differently. But I'll 
 divide with you, and as to the proportions, 
 we'll settle that on the way home. Now 
 I'm off for the Dido!'' And having 
 thrown off his clothes as he talked, he 
 ran down the bank and plunged into the 
 
 sea. 
 
 " I'll let you off with one third," shouted 
 Reube after him, as he sat on the bank 
 and watched. " Not one penny less !" 
 
 " All right," spluttered Will, breasting 
 
 <l 
 
70 
 
 1T<» 
 
 IciEUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 1^ 
 
 )! 
 
 a white-crested, yellow wave. In a few 
 minutes he was on board th^Dido. Pulling 
 up the anchor and hoisting the sail, he 
 brought her in beside a jutting plaster rock 
 which formed a natural quay. Then he 
 resumed his clothes, while Reube took 
 his place at the helm. 
 
 The wind being still down the bay and 
 the tide on the turn, they decided not to 
 attempt the all-night task of beating up 
 against it. It took them, indeed, two tacks 
 to reach the pinkie. Will went aboard 
 the latter craft, leavincr Reube in his dar- 
 ling D/do. The two boats tacked pa- 
 tiently back and forth, in and out of the 
 wide cove, till they gained the shelter of 
 a little creek under the lea of Wood Point. 
 Here they were secured with anxious care. 
 Then Will and Reube started for home 
 by the road, pricked on to haste by the 
 thought of how their mothers would be 
 worrying, by the sharp demands of their 
 empty stomachs, and by the elating clink 
 of the coins that filled their pockets. 
 When they reached Mrs. Dare's cottage 
 
 ••4 
 
THE BLUE JAR. 
 
 ;i 
 
 Reube rushed in to relieve his mother's 
 fears, for she had indeed begun to be 
 anxious. Will hurried on toward Frosty 
 Hollow, munching a piece of Mrs. Dare's 
 gingerbread by the way. 
 
 As he trudged forward cheerfully, he 
 was overtaken by an express wagon bound 
 for "the Corners." The driver offered 
 him a "lift," as the phrase goes about 
 Tantramar. It was none other than Jerry 
 Barnes, the master of the red bull, and 
 the owner of the pinkie which Will and 
 Reube had so boldly appropriated. Will 
 told him the whole story, omitting only 
 the discovery of the jar of coin. He and 
 Reube had agreed to keep their counsel 
 on this point, lest some should envy their 
 good luck and others doubt their story. 
 
 "I hope," said Will, "you are not put 
 out at our taking the pinkie.?" 
 
 "I hope," grinned Barnes, "you're not 
 put out at old Ramses for bein' so oncivil 
 in the pastur' ! But as for the pinkie, of 
 course you did quite right. Only I'll want 
 you chaps to get her back to the creek by 
 
72 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 it 
 
 
 to-morrow mornin's tide, as I'm goin' to 
 drift for shad to-morrow night !" 
 
 " Of course," said Will ; " w^e'll go after 
 her the first thing in the morning. That's 
 just what we planned on." 
 
 " That there's a smart boat Reube 
 Dare's built. And he's a right smart lad, 
 is Reube," remarked Jerry Barnes. 
 
 " There's where your head's level," 
 agreed Will, warmly. 
 
 " And do you know when he's goin' to 
 drift ? " asked Barnes. 
 
 "He won't be quite ready for to-mor- 
 row night," said Will. " But we count on 
 getting out the night following." 
 
 " Well, now, a word in your ear ! " went 
 on Barnes, leaning over confidentially. 
 " I've no manner of doubt Mart Gandy 
 cut the DiWo loose. And now Reube had 
 better keep his eye on his nets after 
 the boats get away to-morrow night. I 
 shouldn't wonder a mite if Gandy 'd try 
 slashinof 'em, so as to o^ive Reube an un- 
 pleasant surprise when he starts out for 
 the Didds first fishing." 
 
THE BLUE TAR. 
 
 73 
 
 " I say," said Will, •' 1 never thought of 
 that ! We'll ' lay ' for him, so to speak, 
 and give him a lesson if he tries it on." 
 
 " A nod's as good as a wink," remarked 
 Jerry Barnes, mysteriously, as he set Will 
 down at Mrs. Carter's door. 
 
 Mrs. Carter had not been at all anxious. 
 Ever since Will's reclamation of the new 
 marsh she had had an implicit faith in 
 his ability and judgment. She had im- 
 agined that he was spending the day with 
 Reube. She rather lost her dignified self- 
 control over Will's story of the adventure 
 in the cave, and she was filled with girl- 
 ish excitement over the finding of the old 
 blue jar. 
 
 "Of course, dearest boy," said Mrs. 
 Carter, " you did quite right to want Reu- 
 ben to take all the treasure, since he alone 
 found it. But where would he have been 
 but for you } Reuben is a fine boy, if his 
 orrandfather didn't amount to much. He 
 takes after his mother's family the most. 
 I'm glad he made you take a share of 
 these lovely old coins." 
 
IH. 
 
 |v 
 
 13 i I, 
 
 it 
 
 If 
 
 74 
 
 I7«'t' 
 
 RKUHE DARKS SHAD BOAT. 
 
 " We'll be able to have some sort of a 
 jolly lark on the strength of it when Ted 
 comes home," said Will. 
 
 '• We might take a run to Boston ! " sug- 
 gested his mother. " I want you boys to 
 see the city ; I want to see it myself. And 
 I might — Mrs. Dare, you know, might 
 want a friend near her if the operation 
 proves at all serious, which I hope it 
 
 won t. 
 
 " You dear, that's just like your thought- 
 fulness!" cried Will, jumping up and kiss- 
 ing her. And so it was agreed upon, 
 subject, in a measure, to Ted's assent. 
 
MART GANDY HACKS THE SHAD NKT. 75 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Mart Gandy Hacks the Shad Net. 
 
 TOURING the next forenoon th^Dido 
 ^^ and the pinkie were sailed up to 
 their old berths in the creek. Thatnii^ht 
 all the boats went out except the Dido, 
 fading like ghosts into the misty, half- 
 moonlit dusk. Reube was very indig- 
 nant at the thought that Gandy might 
 attack his shad net, and vowed, if he 
 caught him at it, to clap him in jail. Mrs. 
 Dare had made the boys take a pair of 
 heavy blankets with them, and, stretched 
 on these, they lay along the seat in the 
 Didds stern, just under the shelter of the 
 gunwale. The reel, with its dark bur- 
 den of net, rose a few feet away, and 
 stood out black but vague against the 
 paler sky. Close at hand lay the wharf, 
 like a crouching antediluvian monster, 
 with its fore paws plunged into the tide. 
 From where they lay our. watchers 
 commanded a view of the surrounding 
 
Blli 
 
 ;; 
 
 M 
 
 H 
 
 4 
 
 ii 
 
 r 
 
 !) :t 
 
 76 
 
 KEUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 levels by merely lifting their heads. In 
 low but eager tones they discussed the 
 Boston trip planned for the coming au- 
 tumn, and Reube squeezed his comrade s 
 hand gratefully when he heard what com- 
 pany he and his mother would have. 
 
 " I can never tell your mother my grat- 
 itude," said he. " With her there my 
 anxiety will be more than half gone." 
 
 "I'm so glad muzz thought of it!" 
 said Will. " I'm sure it would never have 
 entered my heedless head. And yet it is 
 just the thing for us to do." 
 
 Another subject of their excited collo- 
 quy was the disposal of those old coins. 
 If deposited at the Barchester Bank they 
 would certainly arouse comment and set 
 all sorts of romantic stories going. But 
 presently Will thought of his friend Mr. 
 Hand, to whom all things in the way of 
 financial management seemed possible. 
 It was decided that on the very next day 
 Will should take the whole store to him 
 and get him to send it away for conver- 
 sion into modern currency. 
 
 ?: 
 
MART GANDY HACKS THE SHAD NET. 77 
 
 " And he'll be able to see that we don't 
 get cheated," added Will. " I fancy some 
 of those coins will be wanted by collect- 
 ors, and so be worth a lot more than 
 their face value." 
 
 *• I tell you, Will," exclaimed Reube, " I 
 can't even yet quite get over my aston- 
 ishment at the way you swear by old 
 Hand ; or, perhaps I should rather say, 
 at the way the old fellow seems to be de- 
 veloping qualities of which he was never 
 suspected until you begun to thaw him 
 
 A. " 
 
 out. 
 
 "Indeed," said Will, warmly, "Mr. 
 Hand is fine stuff. He was like a piece 
 of gold hidden in a mass of very refrac- 
 tory ore. But Toddles melted him down 
 all right." 
 
 In a short time conversation flagged, 
 and then, listening to the lip-lip-lipping 
 of the softly falling tide and the mellow 
 far-off roar of the waters pouring through 
 an aboideaux, both the watchers grew 
 drowsy. At last Will was asleep. Even 
 Reube's brain was getting entangled with 
 6 
 
 I 
 
7« 
 
 KKUBE dark's SHAD T'.OAT. 
 
 Ir! 
 
 
 
 •I 
 
 ii 
 
 confused and flectin"^ visions when he was 
 brought sharply to himself by the queer 
 sucking sound of footsteps in the mud. 
 
 He raised his head and peered over 
 the gunwale. There was Mart Gandy 
 within ten paces of the net reel. He had 
 come by way of the dike. In his hand 
 gleamed the polished curve of the sickle 
 with which he was accustomed to reap 
 his buckwheat, and Reube's blood boiled 
 at the thought of that long, keen blade 
 working havoc in the meshes of his cher- 
 ished nets. Gandy marched straight up 
 to the reel, raised the sickle, and slashed 
 viciously at the mass of woven twine. 
 
 Ere he could repeat the stroke a yell 
 of wrath rang in his ear and Reube was 
 upon him, hurling him to the ground. 
 His deadly weapon flew from his grasp, 
 and he was too startled to make much 
 resistance. The weio^ht of Reube's knee 
 on his chest, the clutch of Reube's stronij 
 fingers at his throat, took all the fight 
 out of him. He looked up with angry 
 and frightened eyes and saw Will stand- 
 
MART CANDY HACKS THE SHAD NET. 79 
 
 ing by, a meaning smile on his lips and a 
 heavy tarred rope's end in his hand. 
 
 Reube rubbed the culprit's head rudely 
 in the mud, and then relaxed the grip 
 • upon his gasping throat. 
 
 " I cannot pound the scoundrel now 
 that I've got him down," said he, turning 
 his face toward Will. "What shall we 
 do with him } You can't lather a chap 
 that doesn't resist and that has his head 
 down in the mud. It's brutal ! " 
 
 " We'll tie his hands to the reel and 
 give him a taste of this rope's end," sug- 
 gested Will, judiciously. 
 
 " I don't exactly like that either," said 
 Reube, rubbing his captive's head again 
 in the slime. " It's too much like play- 
 ing hangman. He deserves the cat- 
 o'-nine-tails if ever a scoundrel did, but I 
 don't like the dirty work of applying it. 
 We'd better just take him to jail. Then 
 he'll get a term in the penitentiary, and 
 
 Fetch 
 
 way 
 
 years. 
 
 me that cod line out of the cuddy, will 
 
 'OU? 
 
 »> 
 
8o 
 
 KEUIJK DAKE S SHAD T.OAT. 
 
 
 M 
 
 Hy this time Mart Gancly had found 
 his voice. That word ' penitentiary " had 
 reduced him to an abject state of terror, 
 and he began to plead piteously for 
 mercy. 
 
 " Lick me ! Lick me all you like ! " he 
 cried, in his queer, high voice. " I kin 
 take a hidin'; but don't send me to the 
 penitentiary ! What 'd the old man do, 
 as hain't got his right senses no more? 
 An' the old woman 'd jest plumb starve, 
 for the gals they ain't a mite o' good to 
 work. Le' me off this time, Reube Dare, 
 'n' I declare I won't never do it ag'in ! " 
 
 Mart's imploring voice more than his 
 words made Reube weaken in his pur- 
 pose. As for Mart's promise, he put no 
 faith in that, and marked on Will's face an 
 unrelenting grin. Nevertheless he said : 
 
 " There's something in what the rascal 
 says. Will. If Mart goes to the peniten- 
 tiary his family's going to suffer more 
 than he. I've a mind to let him off this 
 time, after all." 
 
 " Well," grunted Will, "just as you say. 
 
MART GANDY HACKS TIIK SHAD NKT. 8 1 
 
 But it would be nothin*^ short of iniqui- 
 tous to let him off altogether. You'd 
 better give him a good ducking, to let 
 him know you're in earnest, anyway." 
 
 Reube pondered this a moment. 
 
 "Mart Gandy," he said, sternly, "I'm 
 going to let you off this time with noth- 
 ing more than a ducking, to fix the cir- 
 cumstance in your mind. But remember, 
 if I find you again at any of your old 
 pranks I'll have a warrant out against 
 you that very day! And I've got all the 
 evidence needed to convict you. Now 
 get up ! " And he jerked the lanky and 
 bedraggled form to its feet. 
 
 Mart, with the fear of prison walls no 
 longer chilling his heart, had recovered 
 himself during this harangue, and his 
 eyes gleamed with a furtive, half-wild 
 hate. Still he made no resistance. The 
 sickle lay far beyond his reach, and he 
 knew he was physically no match for 
 either Reube or Will. He was led to the 
 very edge of the steep, slippery incline 
 of the channel, wherein the tide had 
 
 t 
 
82 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 ii 
 
 ]• II 
 
 dropped about fifteen feet. Will snatched 
 a coil of rope out of the boat. 
 
 " Can you swim } " he asked, curtly. 
 
 " No," said the fellow, eyeing him side- 
 wise. 
 
 "He is lying," remarked Reube, in a 
 businesslike voice. 
 
 •' Well," said Will, " if he isn't lying 
 we'll fish him out again, that's all." 
 
 Just as he was speaking, and while 
 Candy's eyes were fixed upon his face 
 with an evil light in them, Reube stepped 
 forward and executed a certain dexterous 
 trip of which he was master. Candy's 
 heels flew out over the brink, his head 
 went back, and, feet foremost, he shot 
 like lightning down the slope and into 
 the stream. 
 
 In a moment he came to the surface 
 and began floundering and struggling 
 like a drowning man. 
 
 " He's putting that all on," said Reube. 
 
 " Maybe not," exclaimed Will. " Better 
 throw him the end of the rope now." 
 
 Reube smiled gravely, but obeyed, and 
 
MART GANDY HACKS THE SHAD NET. 83 
 
 a coil fell almost in Gandy's arms. The 
 struggling man seemed too bewildered to 
 catch it. He grasped at it wildly, sank, 
 rose, sank, and rose again. Will pre- 
 pared to jump in and rescue him. But 
 Reube interposed. 
 
 " No, you don't," said he, coolly ; " not 
 without one end of this rope round your 
 waist and me hanging onto the other 
 end!" 
 
 " Make haste, then, " cried Will, in some 
 anxiety. 
 
 In a few seconds the rope was knotted 
 firmly about Will's waist, and he sprang 
 into the water. Even as he did so the 
 apparently drowning man disappeared. 
 He came up again many feet away, and, 
 swimming with wonderful speed, gained 
 the opposite bank. He clambered nim- 
 bly up the slope and started at a run 
 across the marsh. Reube, with derisive 
 compliments, helped the dripping and 
 disgusted Will to shore again. 
 
 " I saw his game," said he, while Will 
 wrung out his clothes. " He's just like a 
 
 I 
 
84 
 
 REUBE DARE S SMAD BOAT. 
 
 I. 
 
 1!,^'' 
 
 fish in the water, and he thought he'd 
 make believe he was drowning, and so 
 manage to drag you down without get- 
 ting blamed for it. But he knew the 
 game was up when he heard what I said 
 and saw you had the rope tied to you." 
 
 " Right you are this time, old man," 
 said Will. 
 
 The sky had cleared perfectly, and in 
 the radiant moonlight Reube's skillful 
 fingers quickly mended the net. The cut 
 was not a deep one, as the blade had 
 been stopped by two of the large wooden 
 floats with which the net was beaded. 
 The mending done and the net made 
 ready for the next night's fishing, the 
 boys turned their faces toward the up- 
 lands to seek a few hours' sleep at Mrs. 
 Dare's. 
 
 Meanwhile Mart Gandy had never 
 ceased running till he got behind an old 
 barn which hid him from the scene of his 
 punishment. Then he turned and shook 
 his long, dark finger in silent fury toward 
 the spot where his antagonists were work- 
 
MART GANDY HACKS THE SHAD NET. 85 
 
 ing. When he reached home he crept 
 to a loft in the shed and drew out a lonsf, 
 heavy musket, once a flintlock, which he 
 had altered to a percussion lock, so th;it 
 it made an effective weapon for duck 
 shooting. This gun he loaded with a 
 heavy charge of powder and a liberal pro- 
 portion of bucksliot. He muttered over 
 his task till it was done to his satisfac- 
 tion, and then stole off to sleep in the 
 barn. 
 
 I 
 
 
 ill 
 
86 
 
 REUBE DARES SHAD 1K)AT. 
 
 ;:• 
 
 If < 
 
 I' 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 A Midnight Visitor. 
 
 "p EUBE and Will did not go shad 
 -^^ fishing the next night, after all. A 
 fierce sou'wester blew up toward evening, 
 and drifting for shad was out of the ques- 
 tion. Every boat was made secure with 
 extra care, and all night the fury of an 
 unusually high tide put the Tantramar 
 and Westcock dikes to the test. They 
 stood the trial nobly, for well had their 
 builders done their work. 
 
 The Dares* wide-winged cottage, set 
 in a hollow of the hill, was little jarred 
 by the gusts that volleyed down upon it. 
 Havine seen the Dido well secured be- 
 hind the little wharf, Reube felt alto- 
 gether at ease. 
 
 " Are you quite sure," asked Mrs. 
 Dare that evening, " that Gandy won't 
 make another attack on the shad boat or 
 the net ? " 
 
 " O yes, mother," answered Reube; 
 
 I 
 
A MIDNIGHT VISITOR. 
 
 87 
 
 " I'm no longer anxious on that score. 
 Mart feels madder than ever, I've no 
 doubt, and I think he'd have tried to 
 drown Will last night if I had left him 
 half a chance. But he is just mortally 
 afraid of the penitentiary, and, now he 
 knows we can prove a case against him, 
 I imagine he'll bottle his wrath for a 
 while." 
 
 " Well, dear, I hope you are right," 
 said his mother. " But I must say I 
 think Mart Gandy is more dangerous 
 than you give him credit for being. I 
 want you to be very careful how you go 
 about alone at night. I know that blood, 
 and how it craves for veneeance. Be 
 watchful, Reube, and don't make the 
 mistake of undervaluing your enemy." 
 
 " No, mother, I won't," answered 
 Reube. ** I know that wise head of 
 yours is generally in the right. If you 
 think I ought to keep my weather eye 
 open, why, open I will keep it, I promise 
 you. And now it's my turn ! What 
 were you doing out so late alone, when 
 
 1 
 
 U t 
 
I 
 
 v<t 
 
 pi 
 
 ¥ i- 
 
 m 
 m 
 
 i^ii 
 
 I! 
 
 V 
 
 '1 
 
 If 
 
 88 
 
 REUBE DARE'S SHAD IJOAT. 
 
 it was almost dark, with those poor eyes 
 that can't see much even in broad day- 
 light ? " 
 
 " I know it was imprudent, Reube, and 
 I did have some trouble getting home," 
 confessed Mrs. Dare. " But, dear, I 
 couldn't help it. I heard quite late in the 
 afternoon that Jim Paul was on a spree 
 again, after keeping steady for a whole 
 year. He has been drinking hard for a 
 week — drunk all the time — and his wife 
 sick in bed, and nothing to eat in the 
 house. I went riirht down with a basket, 
 and I was glad I went. The children were 
 crying with hunger. And such a house ! 
 And Mrs. Paul lying on the floor, white 
 as a ghost, where she had just fallen ! 
 She had got out of bed and tried to 
 make some porridge for the children — 
 there was nothing in die house but a 
 little corn meal. Her husband was out, 
 and she was trembling witi: fear lest he 
 should return in a drunken frenzy and 
 beat them all. Poor woman! And Jim 
 Paul is a good husband and fathtr when 
 
■ i 
 
 A MIDNIGHT VISITOR. 
 
 89 
 
 he is sober. You see, Reube, it took 
 me a long while, blind as I'm getting, 
 to find the children and straighten things 
 up. 
 
 " Well, mother, this autumn, if all goes 
 well," said Reube, cheerfully, " we'll get 
 the poor eyes fixed as good as new. 
 And then you may stay out late some- 
 times without me scolding you." 
 
 That night, when Reube and his 
 mother were sleeping soundly, they were 
 roused by a crash which the roaring of 
 the wind could not drown. It seemed to 
 shake the whole house. Reube sprang 
 out of bed. As he dragged on his trou- 
 sers his mother came to the door with a 
 lamp in her hand. 
 
 " What is it, mother } " he asked, rub- 
 bing his eyes. 
 
 " Some one has broken in the outer 
 door," replied Mrs. Dare, calmly. " He 
 is in the back kitchen now, but the inner 
 door is bolted." 
 
 Reube took the lamp from her hand 
 and started down stairs. 
 
 ,' •, 
 
 i'* 
 
• 
 
 Mi 
 
 !'■ !■ Ill ' 
 -^ 111- 
 
 ■1 
 
 
 I II 
 
 S III 
 
 • Hi 
 
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 ^1 ■lii i 
 
 90 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 " O, my boy, what are you doing ? You 
 have no weapon. O, if only we had — " 
 
 But Reube interrupted these words, 
 which now had an all-unwonted tremor 
 in them. 
 
 •' Nothing else to be done, mother," he 
 said, quietly. " Don't be scared ! He 
 won't bother me, whoever he is ! " And 
 as his mother looked at him she felt 
 strangely reassured. Or, perhaps it was 
 something in his voice which satisfied 
 her. She snatched up her big Paisley 
 shawl, flung it over her nightgown, and 
 followed Reube at a discreet distance. 
 
 Reube opened a door leading from the 
 hall to the inner kitchen. At the same 
 moment the door between the two 
 kitchens was battered In with a loud 
 crash, and there entered a terrifying 
 apparition. It was Jim Paul, drunk, and 
 with a wild glitter in his bloodshot eyes. 
 His face and huge, burly form were 
 stained with the blood of various fights. 
 
 an 
 
 d h 
 
 e earn PC 
 
 1 in his hand tn 
 
 e ax w 
 
 ith 
 
 which he had broken down the doors. 
 
A MIDNIGHT VISITOR. 
 
 91 
 
 Jim Pauls appearance was well calcu- 
 lated to daunt an older heart than 
 Reube's, but Reube's heart was of a 
 dauntless fiber. A cold, steady light 
 seemed to shine from his pale eyes as 
 they met the fierce and feverish gaze of 
 the intruder, who promptly stopped and 
 glanced aside uneasily. Reube's mouth 
 and broad brow, usually so boyish, 
 looked as grim as iron as he stepped up 
 coolly to the drunken giant and asked 
 him what he meant by breaking into the 
 house. 
 
 Paul hesitated, beginning to quail be- 
 fore the stronger will that confronted 
 him. 
 
 " Give me that ax ! " said Reube, 
 quietly. 
 
 Paul handed over the weapon with 
 most prompt and deferential obedience, 
 and began to stammer an inarticulate 
 apology. Reube kept eyeing him with- 
 out another word, and Paul orrew anxious 
 and worried under the gaze. At last he 
 plunged his great hand deep down into 
 
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 •'tM 
 
92 
 
 REUKE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 I I 
 
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 p i« 
 
 his trousers pocket and drew forth a lot 
 of silver and copper coins. These he 
 pressed Reube to accept, presently break- 
 ing into maudlin protestations of esteem. 
 
 Reube turned away abruptly, having 
 made up his mind what to do with his 
 troublesome guest. He set the lamp on 
 a shelf, and then took the money which 
 Paul still held out. 
 
 '* I'll take care of it till youVe sober 
 enough to put it to its proper use," said he. 
 
 The big fellow was by this time on the 
 verge of tears, and ejaculating a host of 
 promises. He wouldn't touch another 
 drop, and he'd mend both the doors so 
 they'd be just as good as new ; and he'd 
 never forget Reube's goodness in not 
 having him taken up for a burglar, and 
 he'd go right home to his poor family. 
 
 "No you don't, Jim!" interrupted 
 Reube at this point. " You'll stay right 
 here where I put you for the rest of this 
 night. And you'll go home to your fam- 
 ily in the morning if you're sober enough, 
 but not otherwise." 
 
A MIDNIGHT VISITOR. 
 
 93 
 
 At this Paul began to protest. But 
 paying no more heed to his words than 
 if he had been a naughty child, Reube 
 led him to a small room opening off the 
 kitchen. The window of this room was 
 a tiny affair through which a man of 
 Paul's bulk could not manage to squeeze. 
 Reube got a couple of heavy buffalo 
 robes, spread them on the floor, and told 
 Paul to lie down on them. Then, bid- 
 ding him sleep soundly and feel better 
 in the morning, Reube locked him in 
 and went to bed. But he took the pre- 
 caution to carry the ax up stairs with 
 him. His mother said simply: 
 
 " You managed the poor fellow beauti- 
 fully, my dear boy. I was glad you were 
 not forced to be rough with him." 
 
 Reube smiled inwardly at his mother's 
 magnificent faith in his powers, but all he 
 said was : 
 
 " Good night, mother dear. He's all 
 right where he is now, and I'll have a talk 
 with him in the morning." 
 
 In the morning Paul had fairly sobered 
 
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 Hiotographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 33 WIST MAIN STMIT 
 
 WEBSTER, NY. 14580 
 
 (716) 873-4903 
 
 
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 94 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
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 up. He was genuinely ashamed of him- 
 self. After making him eat some break- 
 fast Reube gave him back his money 
 and sent him home. As he was leaving 
 the house he turned to say something, 
 but seeing Mrs. Dare within earshot he 
 hesitated. Reube followed him to the 
 gate. There he stopped and said : 
 
 " I know I was just crazy drunk las' 
 night, but I kinder reck*lect what hap- 
 pened. When we wuz all drinkin' down 
 to Simess, an' I'd licked three or four of 
 the fellers. Mart Gandy says, says he, 
 * There's a lad hereabouts as yer cain't 
 lick, Jim Paul, an' him only a kid, too!' 
 In course I fires up, and says I, 'Show 
 him to me, an' I'll show yous all ! ' Some 
 more words passed, till I was that riled I 
 was blind, an' then Mart Gandy says, 
 says he, * Yer cain't lick Reube Dare!' 
 Off I started to once't, an* you know's 
 well's I do that I'd never 'a' lifted a 
 finger aein this house ef I hadn't bin 
 
 agm 
 
 jest blind crazy ! But I'll remember 
 what I might 'a' done ef you hadn't jest 
 
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 im 
 
 A MIDNIGHT VISITOR. 
 
 95 
 
 bin able to make me mind ; an' 'fore 
 God, rii try to keep straight. But you 
 mark my words. Look out fer that ther 
 Gandy ! He's up ter mischief, an' he 
 ain't the one to stick at anything." 
 
 "Thank you, Jim," answered Reube, 
 holding out his hand. " We'll say no 
 more about last night, but I'll remember 
 your warning, and I want you to remem- 
 ber the promise you've just made me ! " 
 
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 »-•' 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Dido's First Fishing Trip. 
 
 TIM PAUL'S warning made an impres- 
 •^ sion on Reube's mind. When Will 
 Carter heard of it he exclaimed : 
 
 " That fits in with my own ideas exactly, 
 Reube ! There's some alien streak in that 
 Gandy's blood that makes him more likely 
 to knife you in the back than fight you to 
 your face ; and that being a kind of enemy 
 you don't understand, you've got to be all 
 the more careful, old man." 
 
 " Well," said Reube, thoughtfully, " what 
 is one to do about it anyway?" 
 
 " Why, look sharp for a chance to get 
 the scoundrel locked up, even if his fam- 
 ily does need him," answered Will. " And, 
 meanwhile, keep your eyes open after 
 dark, and take no chances. Carry a good 
 heavy stick, too." 
 
 " All right ! " laughed Reube. " But I 
 think these hands of mine are good 
 enough for Mart, any day." 
 
THE DIDO S FIRST FISHING TRIP. 
 
 97 
 
 That night proving fine,with a fair, light 
 wind down the bay, Reube and Will took 
 the Dido out for her first drift. In the 
 cuddy were stowed some extra clothes in 
 case of a cold bay fog rolling up, and sev- 
 eral thick blankets, and enough bread and 
 meat and cold tea for a couple of days 
 in case the trip should be unexpectedly 
 prolonged. Will insisted also on a gener- 
 ous sheet of Mrs. Dare's gingerbread and a 
 brown stone jug of lime-juice ready mixed. 
 He had a care for material comforts. But 
 as for Reube, he was in such a state of ex- 
 alted excitement that he could think of 
 nothing but shad and the Dido. 
 
 Will was an excellent shot — famous, 
 indeed, all about that region for his habit 
 of going partridge shooting with a little 
 rifle instead of the orthodox shotgun. He 
 now took his beloved little rifle with him 
 in the hope of bagging some rare spec- 
 imen of gull or hawk. He little dreamed 
 that he might turn out to be hunted in- 
 stead of hunter on that trip. 
 
 By the time all preparations were com- 
 
 I ; 
 
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 ; I 
 
 
 
II! 
 
 98 
 
 REUBE DARES SHAD BOAT. 
 
 :i 
 
 III 
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 I: 
 
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 Urn 
 
 I'M 
 
 plete, and the brown nets, beaded with 
 wooden floats and leaden sinkers, un- 
 wound from the reel and neatly coiled in 
 the Didos stern, and the great half hogs- 
 head amidships filled with water to serve 
 as ballast, the rest of the shad fleet were 
 dropping one by one out of the creek. Like 
 great pale moths their sails floated over 
 the marsh, following the windings of the 
 creek, and vanishing into the silvery night. 
 The Dido followed with Reube at the 
 helm. She sailed swiftly and soon over- 
 took her slower rivals. Only the little 
 red-and-white pinkie preserved her dis- 
 tance, and Reube had to acknowledge, 
 reluctantly, that she was as speedy as the 
 Dido. When the fleet reached the open 
 every boat headed down the bay, at the 
 same time diverging from its neighbor. 
 The object of this latter movement was 
 to get the utmost possible room for the 
 nets ; of the former to get as far down 
 the bay as possible before turning with 
 the tide to drift back. The fishing was 
 all done on this backward drift. 
 
THE dido's first FISHING TRIP. 
 
 99 
 
 The Dido gradually lost sight of all 
 her rivals but the pinkie, which hovered, 
 a faint white speck, far to starboard. The 
 five hours' sail brought our young shad 
 fishers past Cape Chignecto, and into 
 wider waters. It was rough off the cape 
 after the turn of tide, and the Dido pitched 
 heavily in the steep yellow waves. Neither 
 Reube nor Will had ever before been so 
 far down the bay, and in their curiosity 
 over a certain strange formation of the 
 cliffs they sailed somewhat close to the 
 shore. 
 
 Will, from his place on the cuddy, was 
 expatiating learnedly on the distorted 
 strata before them, when suddenly he 
 broke off in the midst of a word, and 
 yelled : 
 
 " A reef right ahead ! Bring her about, 
 quick ! " 
 
 But Reube had seen the danger at the 
 same instant. With one hand he jammed 
 the helm hard down, and with the other 
 loosed the main sheet, at the same time 
 shouting to Will : 
 
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 iiiiii 
 
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 \ 
 
 100 
 
 REUBE dare's SHAD BOAT. 
 
 " Let go the jib!" 
 
 Will sprang to obey. But the stiff new 
 rope, pulled taut during the long run and 
 shrunken hard by the spray, would not 
 yield at once even to his strong fingers. 
 It had got jammed fast in some way. 
 Meanwhile the D/do, broadside on and 
 beaten mightily by the waves, was heel- 
 ing as if she would turn over in the trough. 
 The jib pulled terrifically, and the water 
 hissed above the cleaving gunwale. 
 
 "Quick! Quick!" yelled Reube; and 
 Will, snatching his knife from his belt, 
 severed the rope at a slash and released 
 the sail. Gracefully the DiWo swung up, 
 righted herself, and bowed on an even 
 keel. 
 
 •• That was something of a close shave," 
 remarked Reube. 
 
 " It was," said Will, studying with angry 
 eyes the rope which had baffled him. 
 
 After this they took a long tack which 
 brought them once more into smoother 
 waters above the cape. As the sun got 
 higher the wind fell lighter, and at length 
 
I 
 
 THE dido's first FISHING TRIP. lOI 
 
 Reube announced that it was time to get 
 out the net. The mainsail was hauled 
 down, and under a close-reefed jib the 
 Dido lay to while the net was slowly and 
 carefully paid out over the stern. The 
 helm was so delicately manipulated that 
 the floating net was not allowed to bunch, 
 but formed its line of blocks into a wide, 
 shallow crescent with the Dido at one 
 horn. This accomplished, the remaining 
 bit of canvas was furled and the long, 
 slow process of "drifting" was fairly be- 
 gun. The tide ran fast, and the shores 
 a half mile distant slipped smoothly by. 
 The rudder swung loose while Will and 
 Reube ate their breakfast, and congrat- 
 ulated themselves on the sailing qualities 
 of the Dido. After breakfast they basked 
 in the sweet June sun, told stories, won- 
 dered idly if the net was capturing any- 
 thing, grew sleepy, and at last began to 
 get impatient. A great gray gull flew 
 over, and Will raised his rifle. But he 
 lowered it instantly. 
 
 " I was on the point of dropping that 
 
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 ^!l 
 
 ;#;' 
 
 
 102 
 
 REUBE dare's SMAD BOAT. 
 
 poor old grayback," said he, penitently, 
 "just for lack of something better to do." 
 
 " I wondered why you were going to 
 shoot it," said Reube, "when'I knew it 
 was no good as a specimen." 
 
 " I say," exclaimed Will, a few minutes 
 later, yawning, " this sun's getting mighty 
 hot ! How long have we been drifting ? " 
 
 " A little over two hours," replied 
 Reube. 
 
 "How long is one expected to drift?" 
 asked Will. 
 
 " O, say four, or maybe five," was the 
 reply. 
 
 " Well, as this is just a sort of trial trip 
 and picnic," suggested Will, " I move we 
 
 haul in the net and count our fish. Then 
 
 * 
 
 we can sail round yonder point to a big 
 creek I know of with a fine, shelving 
 sand spit at its mouth. The sand is cov- 
 ered at high water ; but about the time 
 we get there it will be just right for you 
 to go in swimrriing from. A swim will go 
 fine this hot day, eh ?" 
 
 " All right !" assented Reube. He was 
 
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 iiiii' ill!' 1 
 
 Then came the shining, silvery sides of a dozen shad. 
 
^^' 
 
 THE dido's first FISHING TRIP. 105 
 
 himself consumed with impatience to see 
 what was in the net. 
 
 As the first two oar's lengths came over 
 the side there was nothing, and the fish- 
 ermen's faces fell. Then came the shin- 
 ing, silvery sides of a dozen shad, and 
 they grew exultant. Then a small salmon, 
 and they chuckled. Then two or three 
 large jellyfish slipped through the meshes 
 in fragments. And then the jhad really be- 
 gan. It was a noble haul, and excitement 
 ran high in the DiWo. The huge tub amid- 
 ships was nearly half full of the gleaming 
 spoils by the time the last fathom of net 
 came over the side ; and there was also 
 another and larger salmon to show. The 
 water in the tub was thrown overboard, as 
 the shad made sufficient ballast. 
 
 "If the D/do keeps it up like this she'll 
 be as good as your diked marsh," cried 
 Reube, gloating over his prizes. 
 
 " Right you are ! " said Will, heartily, 
 washing his hands with vigor over the 
 side. " And now for that swim. We've 
 earned it, and we need it." 
 
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 REUBE DARES SHAD BOAT. 
 
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 Forthwith the sails were got up, and 
 the Dido made all haste for the swimming 
 place which Will had indicated. She 
 rounded the point, skirted the shore for 
 nearly a mile, ran into the creek's mouth, 
 and dropped anchor beside the tempting 
 yellow sand spit. 
 
 
 mN i! i 
 
 
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 'l!( ,' 
 
BESIEGED ON THE SAND SPIT. 
 
 107 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Besieged on the Sand Spit. 
 
 WILL lost no time in getting off his 
 clothes. He felt hot and fishy^ 
 and the cool, tawny ripples allured him. 
 Reube tested the anchor to see that the 
 Dido held fast, and then began more 
 slowly to undress. The anchor had been 
 dropped not more than thirty or forty 
 feet from the sand spit, but the boat had 
 swung off before the light breeze till the 
 distance was increased to a score of 
 yards. 
 
 " That's quite a swim for me. Will," said 
 Reube, doubtfully, eyeing the tide. 
 
 "Nonsense! You can swim twice as 
 far as that if you only think so," asserted 
 Will with confidence. " By the way, I 
 wonder what makes you such a duffer in 
 the water. That's your weak point. I 
 must take you in hand and make a water 
 dog of you." 
 
 " I just wish you would," said Reube. 
 
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 1 08 
 
 REUBE dare's SHAD BOAT. 
 
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 m 
 
 .,~M^' 
 
 
 II. . , 
 
 " I don't seem to really get hold of my- 
 self in the water. I have to work fright- 
 fully hard to keep up at all, and then I'm 
 all out of breath in less than no time. 
 Why is it, I wonder ? " 
 
 " Well," answered Will, " we'll see right 
 now. You swim over to the bar yonder, 
 and I'll stand here and watch your ac- 
 tion. I fancy you don't use your legs 
 just right." 
 
 " It's too far. Pull her in a little way." 
 urged Reube. 
 
 Laughingly Will complied. He pulled 
 on the rope till the JJido was almost 
 straicrht above the anchor. Then Reube 
 slipped overboard with an awkward 
 splash and struck out for the sand spit. 
 
 His progress was slow and labored. 
 His strokes made a great turmoil, but 
 produced little solid result. Will's face 
 wore a look of amused comprehension, 
 but he refrained from criticism till the ' 
 swimmer had reached his goal and drawn 
 himself out panting on the sand. 
 
 " How's that?" asked Reube. 
 
 Hi ' ' ' 
 
T 
 
 BESIEGED ON THE S\ND SPIT. 
 
 109 
 
 "O, it's all wrong! If it was anyone 
 less obstinate than you he wouldn't keep 
 afloat half a minute struggling that way," 
 answered Will. " But wait a moment and 
 I'll show you what I mean." 
 
 With a graceful curve Will plunged 
 into the water as smoothly as if he had 
 been oiled. A few long, powerful strokes 
 brought him to the spot where his com- 
 rade was standing. 
 
 " Now," said he, " get in there in front 
 of me when the water comes up to the 
 lower part of your chest. You use your 
 legs wrong, and your arms too. Your 
 arms don't make a quarter the stroke 
 they ought to, and your fingers are wide 
 open, and your hands press out instead 
 of down on the water too much. Keep 
 your fingers together, and turn your 
 palms so that they tend to lift you, in- 
 stead of just pushing the water away on 
 each side. And, moreover, finish your 
 stroke ! " 
 
 '• And what about my legs 7 " asked 
 Reube, humbly. 
 
 8 
 
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 ■ !f 
 
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 im 
 
 no 
 
 1.1 ♦ 
 
 KEUDE DARE S SHAD 150AT. 
 
 " Never mind them till we get the 
 hands right," insisted Will. " Now lean 
 forward slowly, with your back hollowed 
 well and chin up, your arms out straight 
 ahead, and straighten your legs. Right ! 
 Now round with your arms in a big, fine 
 sweep, drawing up your legs at the same 
 time. That's more like it. But your 
 legs — you draw them up right under you 
 with the knees close together. That's 
 all wrong. Didn't you ever watch a frog, 
 old man ? As you draw up your legs 
 spread your knees wide apart like one- of 
 those tin monkeys shinning up a stick. 
 Try again. M-m-m ! Yes, that's some- 
 thing like what I want. You see, with the 
 knees doubled up wide apart they have 
 their separate motions as you kick them 
 out again. The legs press the water 
 down, and so do some lifting. The 
 feet push you ahead, and at the same 
 time you thrust a wedge of water back- 
 ward from between your legs as they 
 come strongly together." 
 
 " That's reasonable," assented Reube, 
 
 III 
 

 BESIEGED ON THE SAND SPIT. 
 
 Ill 
 
 practicing diligently. In a few minutes 
 he had made a marvelous advance in his 
 method. Will sometimes swam beside 
 him, sometimes stood on the bar and 
 criticised. 
 
 All at once, in the midst of an encour- 
 aging speech he clapped his hands to his 
 heart with a cry of pain, sank upon the 
 sand, and called out sharply : 
 
 "Come here quick, quick, Reube ! " 
 
 Reube remembered his lessons even 
 in his anxiety, and with long, powerful 
 strokes made his way swiftly to Will's 
 side. As he landed Will straightened 
 himself up with a grave smile, and held 
 out" his hand to draw Reube back from 
 the water's edge. 
 
 " I'm all right now," said he. 
 
 "But what was the matter.?" queried 
 Reube, in impatient astonishment. 
 
 "Why, just that," replied Will, sud- 
 denly pointing to the water. 
 
 Reube turned and glanced behind him. 
 
 ''Sharks f' he almost shouted. And 
 there, sure enough, were two black tri- 
 
 V 
 
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 !i 
 
 ■iii 
 
 
 
 112 
 
 REUBE DARES SHAD BOAT. 
 
 angular fins cleaving the water where he 
 had just been swimming. 
 
 After staring for a moment or two in 
 silence he turned again and met the in- 
 scrutable smile on his companion s face. 
 He held out his hand. 
 
 " I understand," said he. "If I'd got 
 flurried in the water I v^^ould have for- 
 gotten the lessons you have just given 
 me, and couldn't have got to shore fast 
 enouQ^h." And in the love and admira- 
 tion which glowed in his eyes Will read 
 sufficient thanks. 
 
 " Now the question is," mused the lat- 
 ter, "how we're going to get to the boat." 
 
 " Seems to me we'd better stay right 
 here for the present," said Reube, drily. 
 
 " Yes," suggested Will ; " and when the 
 tide gets a little higher, what then ? " 
 
 " Um ! " said Reube, " I was forgetting 
 this is not an honest island. This does 
 certainly look awkward. But what do 
 you suppose those chaps are doing, cruis- 
 ing to and fro right there ? Are they just 
 catching herring ? Or are they after us ? " 
 
BESIEGED ON THE SAND SPIT. 
 
 "3 
 
 .^y 
 
 " You would know what they were after 
 if you had seen the way they streaked in 
 here when they got a glimpse of you," 
 responded Will. 
 
 " I don't see what weVe going to do 
 about it," said Reube presently, after they 
 had gazed at their dreadful besiegers in 
 gloomy silence. " But there's something 
 in the way of a weapon which we might 
 as well secure anyway." And running to 
 the other side of the sand spit he snatched 
 up a broken picket which had been left 
 there by the previous ebb. " It's better 
 than nothing," he insisted. 
 
 " Reube," said Will, " if we stay here 
 it's all up with us pretty soon. We'll just 
 make a dinner for those chaps. It seems 
 to me I'd better take that stick you've 
 got there and make a dash for the Dido, 
 You know I swim wonderfully fast, and 
 dive like a fish ; and I can perhaps man- 
 age to jab the sharks with that picket, or 
 scare them off by making a great splash 
 in the water. If I succeed in getting to 
 the Dido I'll bring her over for you, and 
 
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 i 
 \ 
 
 - 
 
 
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114 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 p ' < ■ ■ > 
 
 i ■■•■■ 
 
 we'll fix the enemy with a couple of bul- 
 lets." 
 
 " No," said Reube, doggedly, grasping 
 the other firmly by the shoulder. " You 
 just wait here. We'll fight this thing out 
 side by side, as we have fought things out 
 before. Remember the cave. Will ! And 
 we won't fight till we have to. We're 
 safe for a half hour yet anyway." 
 
 " And then the distance between us and 
 the boat will be all the greater," urged 
 Will. 
 
 " No, the wind's falling and it may turn 
 and blow the D/do over this way," in- 
 sisted Reube. " See, the fitful little gusts 
 now. Or one of the other boats may 
 come in sight near enough for us to hail 
 her. You never can tell what may hap- 
 pen, you know." 
 
 Indeed, as a matter of fact, Reube wa^ 
 right. He could not tell what would 
 happen. What actually did happen was 
 neither of the things which he had sug- 
 gested, and yet it was the most natural 
 thing in the world. 
 
I'OILING THE SHARKS. 
 
 115 
 
 T 
 
 ' 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Foiling the Sharks. 
 
 O LOWLY the tide crept in upon the 
 ^ spit, and the strip of sand grew 
 narrower. Those grimly patrolling black 
 fins drew nearer and nearer as the bar 
 became smaller. The gusts of wind 
 grew more and more capricious, some- 
 times seeming as if they would actually 
 swinor the Dici^o over to the rescue of the 
 despairing prisoners ; but this they re- 
 frained from doing. 
 
 " She'll swing over to us yet," asserted 
 Reube, confidently. " She isn't going to 
 desert us in such a horrible scrape as 
 this!" 
 
 But Will made no reply. He was 
 studying his tactics for the struggle which 
 he felt was now close at hand. 
 
 " You'd better give that stake, or pick- 
 et, or whatever it is, to me, Reube," he 
 suggested. " You'll have enough to do 
 just swimming. I, being perfectly at 
 
 !' 
 
 •^1 
 
 I 
 
ii6 
 
 REUBE DARE\S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 m 
 
 
 home in the water, will be able to make 
 the best use of it, don't you think ? If I 
 can manage to give each of those brutes 
 a solid jab in the belly, maybe they'll get 
 sick of their undertaking and depart." 
 
 " All right," agreed Reube, though with 
 some reluctance. And he handed over 
 the sharp stick. 
 
 "You'll have to fight for yourself and 
 me too, that's all," he continued. 
 
 " I'll make a fight anyway," said Will. 
 " And I dare say I can drive them both 
 off. In these well-stocked waters they 
 can't be very hungry or very fierce." 
 
 At last the strip of sand was not 
 more than three or four feet wide and six 
 inches above water. But though so nar- 
 row it was more than a hundred yards in 
 length, extending like a sort of backbone 
 up the entrance to the creek. About the 
 middle it looked a foot or two broader 
 than where the captives were standing. 
 
 " Come up there where it is wider," 
 said Reube. 
 
 As they went those black fins kept 
 
FOILING THE SHARKS. 
 
 117 
 
 scrupulously abreast of them, and they 
 ( shuddered at the sight. 
 ^ At this point the opposite shore of 
 the creek jutted out somewhat sharply 
 toward the sand spit. Will cast his eye 
 across the narrow channel. 
 y " What fools we are all this time ! " he 
 cried. " Why, we can easily swim across 
 to land on this side before the sharks can 
 get all the way around the shoal." 
 
 " Can we } " inquired Reube, doubtfully. 
 
 "Yes," said Will, "and the sooner the 
 better. But now look, Reube ; keep cool. 
 Don't try to hurry too much. Take the 
 long, slow strokes. And remember, I'll 
 keep behind, and if the brutes do get 
 around too quick I'll keep them busy a 
 minute or two, never fear. Then you 
 can come to my rescue with one of those 
 fence stakes yonder. Come on, now ! " 
 And side by side they slipped swiftly into 
 the water. 
 
 WHth long, powerful strokes they sped 
 across the narrow channel that divided 
 them from safety. Will, swimming at 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 
 
 . 
 
v.- 
 I 
 
 !-l 
 
 If I 
 
 
 
 '*:'W.^( 
 
 Jiii 
 
 IdII '* ■ ''it. 
 
 r,J»i 
 
 
 Ii8 
 
 KKIJP.E DARE S SHAD P.OAT. 
 
 much less than his full speed, dropped 
 almost a yard behind as soon as they were 
 fairly started, and swam on his side so as 
 to command a view of the water behind. 
 The narrow ridge of yet uncovered sand, 
 however, prevented him from seeing 
 what took place when he and Reube 
 slipped noiselessly, as they thought, into 
 the water. Those black fins had turned 
 on the instant, and were dartincj with ter- 
 rific speed for the lower end of the sand 
 spit. 
 
 By the time our swimmers were fairly 
 halfway across, or perhaps a shade better, 
 Will saw the fins come round the foot of 
 the sand spit. 
 
 " I think we'll make it," he said to him- 
 self, measuring the distance with cool eye. 
 But he refrained from telling Reube 
 what he saw. A moment later, however, 
 IS he marked the terrible speed of the 
 approaching peril, he could not help say- 
 ing, in a voice which he kept quite steady 
 and casual: 
 
 " You're doing finely, Reube. Don't 
 
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 9 
 
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 3 
 
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 3* 
 
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 w 
 
 B. 
 51 
 
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 3* 
 
 
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 p 
 
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 I 
 
 I 
 
FOILING THE SHARKS. 
 
 121 
 
 hurry your stroke, but put a little more 
 power in it for a spurt and we're safe." 
 
 Reube wasted no breath for a reply. 
 He knew this adjuration of Will's meant 
 that the danger was drawing very near ; 
 but his companion's anxiety as to his 
 nerves was quite unneeded. He struck 
 out as steadily as ever, but with all the 
 force which his muscle and his will power 
 together could create, and went ahead so 
 fast that Will had to really swim to keep 
 up with him. In half a minute more — to 
 them it seemed a lone time — Reube 
 struck bottom in shallow water and 
 dragged himself to land. The sharks 
 were now so near that for an instant W^ill 
 hesitated. Would he have time to get 
 out, or must he turn and defend his legs ? 
 But his decision was instantaneous. With 
 a mighty thrust of his legs and one free 
 arm he flung himself forward, felt the 
 mud beneath his hands, jerked his feet 
 under him, and stood up just in time to 
 turn and deal the nearest shark a desper- 
 ate blow with the pointed stake as it half 
 
w 
 
 122 
 
 >'o 
 
 REUBE DARE S SI J AD BOAT. 
 
 
 1:1 4 
 
 
 I. ( 
 
 
 
 turned over to seize him. Astonished 
 and daunted, the great fish recoiled, and 
 before its fellow could join in the attack 
 Will had sprung out of reach. 
 
 " It's a blessed thing," said Will, " to 
 get ashore with a whole leg, isn't it ? " 
 
 His light manner was but the froth on 
 the surface of his deeper emotions. He 
 was trembling from the long strain and 
 stern self-repression. 
 
 Reube drew a deep, slow breath. 
 
 " Verily," said he, with a grave face, 
 '* that was pretty nearly as bad as the 
 cave while it lasted ! " 
 
 " O, surely not," objected Will. " We 
 had the free air and sun, and a chance to 
 fight for our lives. But it makes me 
 mad to think what fools we were in the 
 first place." 
 
 " How so.^ " asked Reube. 
 
 •' W^hy," answered Will, "if we'd come 
 this way on the first arrival of those 
 beastly leviathans we would not have 
 had half so far to swim, and our pursu- 
 ers would have had nearly twice as far to 
 
FOILING THE SHARKS. 
 
 123 
 
 go. It would have all been as simple 
 and easy as falling off a log, and our hearts 
 wouldn't be going like trip hammers now, 
 the way they are." 
 
 " That's so," agreed Reube, in a tone of 
 disgust. " But now I'm wondering what 
 other scrapes we can manage to get into 
 between here and home. I never real- 
 ized till now the truth of the proverb — 
 generally I despise proverbs — which says 
 * It never rains but it pours !' It seems 
 to me I have been at steady high pressure 
 the last few days, and lived more and 
 felt more than in all the rest of my life 
 put together." 
 
 "My idea is that fate '11 let us alone 
 for a while now," remarked Will, with the 
 air of a philosopher. " The law of prob- 
 abilities is all against any further excite- 
 ment on this trip." 
 
 " So be it ! " said Reube. " But let's 
 get to the Dido — and our clothes ! " 
 
 Trotting up the lonely shore of the 
 creek for half a mile, they came to an 
 aboideanx, and crossed to the other shore 
 
 1^1 
 
 
I^i 
 
 T24 
 
 REUBE DARE'S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 
 fd-f 
 
 Hil'i 
 
 ^•s; 
 
 of the stream. Following down the bank, 
 they soon came opposite the Dido. The 
 sharks were nowhere to be seen, and the 
 £>ido presently swung so near that a 
 short plunge put them safely on board. 
 Dressing hastily, they got up the anchor 
 and sailed out of the creek with their 
 bowsprit pointing homeward. As they 
 did so the sharks appeared again, pur- 
 suing them. Will tied a piece of pork to 
 a dry block, tossed it overboard, and 
 snatched up his rifle. The bait floated 
 a moment unmolested, then the nearest 
 shark, darting upon it, turned over and 
 engulfed it in his murderous mouth. 
 At the same moment Will fired. The 
 ball, with deadly precision, entered the 
 brute's mouth and pierced its brain. With 
 a convulsive flurry it rolled over stone 
 dead. 
 
THE SHOT FROM THE ROCKS. 12$ 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Shot from the Rocks. 
 
 T^HE Other shark, taking alarm, darted 
 -^ away at once. 
 " That's a trophy we must secure ! " ex- 
 claimed Reube. " You don't have a chance 
 to shoot a shark every day." 
 
 Will was already noosing a couple of 
 ropes. The Dido was brought alongside 
 the rolling carcass, and after a great deal 
 of difficulty the nooses were made fast 
 to its head and tail. In the effort to hoist 
 the heavy mass aboard the boat was 
 nearly swamped ; and at one time Will 
 offered to give up the job. But Reube 
 generously insisted on continuing. At 
 last, by waiting till a wave rolled boat and 
 carcass together in just the most pro- 
 pitious way possible, the thing was ac- 
 complished with a sudden hoist. Along 
 with the great fish a barrel or two of 
 
 water came aboard; and while Reube 
 
 
126 
 
 REUIJE DARE S SHAD DOAT. 
 
 Iv 
 
 (ill 
 
 »)i'i, 
 
 Steered, Will was kept busy for a half 
 hour bailing the boat out. 
 
 This accomplished, Will discovered 
 that the hot sun, the excitement, or pos- 
 sibly the motion of the boat, had given 
 him a violent headache. _^ ^ 
 
 " O, it's all very well, but you know 
 you're seasick," gibed Reube, as he sat at 
 the helm. 
 
 " Maybe so,*' assented W^ill, undisturbed 
 at the imputation. " Anyway, I'm going 
 to lie down here under the shade of the 
 mainsail to sleep it off Even if I snore 
 don't wake me, as you value your life !" 
 
 With the aid of a blanket he made 
 himself comfortable, and in a few minutes 
 was sound asleep. Steering the Dtdodind 
 watching the shores slip by, and building 
 plans for the coming year, Reube was 
 well content. The wind, after having al- 
 most died away, had shifted a few points 
 ' and was blowing gently but steadily. 
 With this wind on her beam the Dido 
 sailed fast, heeling smoothly, and sending 
 the waves past her gunwale with a pleas- 
 
 i j.'i- 
 
p 
 
 THE SHOT FROM THE ROCKS. 
 
 127 
 
 ant murmur. Reube took little account 
 of time just now. Life seemed a very 
 attractive dream, and he was unwilling 
 even to stir. But his hand on the tiller 
 was firm, and there was no smallest dan- 
 ger of him dropping to sleep. 
 
 This lotus-eating mood, with a few in- 
 tervals, must have lasted four or five 
 hours. The tide had turned and been a 
 good three hours on the ebb. At last he 
 observed vaguely that he was just off the 
 promontory where he and Will had been 
 caught in the cave. Thinking of the 
 dangers of the locality, he steered a point 
 or two further out to give the sunken 
 reefs a wide berth. As he did so he no- 
 ticed that the tide was out as far as the 
 foot of the bluff, and that the cove flats 
 were all uncovered. He was fairly past 
 the point when out of the tail of his eye 
 he caught a movement among the rocks 
 just where the cave mouth lay. Turning 
 his head quickly, he saw Mart Gandy step 
 forward and raise his great duck gun to 
 his shoulder. 
 
 
'W 
 
 k 
 
 
 I 
 
 128 
 
 .-.♦ 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 The distance was scarcely fifty yards, 
 and Gandy was a first-rate shot. There 
 was no time to think. Like a flash Reube 
 dropped forward upon the bottom of the 
 boat, letting the tiller swing free. At the 
 same instant there was a loud, roaring 
 report from the big duck gun, and the 
 heavy charge of buckshot, passing just 
 over the gunwale, tore a black hole in the 
 sail. 
 
 Reube had fallen just in time. He 
 picked himself up again at once, recap- 
 tured the tiller, and tried to put the DzWo 
 before the wind in the hope of getting 
 out of range ere Gandy could load up 
 for another shot. But the boat was 
 pointing straight for the shore, and came 
 round very slowly. Ere Reube could 
 get her on a new course Will appeared 
 from behind the sail, astonished at the 
 noise and the confusion. 
 
 He took in the situation at once. Gan- 
 dy, who was reloading in fierce haste, 
 stopped for a moment with paling face at 
 Will's unexpected appearance. He had 
 
THE SHOT FROM THE ROCKS. 
 
 129 
 
 evidently been under the impression that 
 Reube was alone, or doubtless he would 
 not have committed himself by such 
 an attack. Then he made up his mind 
 that ho would see the thing through. 
 Flinging down his powder horn, he 
 rammed home the wadding fiercely, and 
 reached for the heavy shot pouch at his 
 side. 
 
 " To shore, Reube ! Straight ashore 
 with her ! " said Will, in a low, intense 
 voice. 
 
 Reube obeyed instantly, seeing that 
 his former intention had been a mistake. 
 Mart Gandy wadded home the buckshot 
 in his great gun barrel. The charge was 
 a terrific one. Will stooped, like a wild- 
 cat crouching for a spring. The Dido 
 rushed straight on, and both Reube and 
 Will declared afterward that they knew 
 just what it was like to charge a battery. 
 
 As Will's keen eye saw Gaudy's finger 
 feel for the trigger, he yelled, " Down ! 
 Reube!" and dropped beneath the gun- 
 wale. On the instant Reube fell flat in 
 
 il^ 
 
 -i !; 
 
130 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 i^ 
 
 
 the stern. The great roar of the duck 
 gun shook the air at the same moment. 
 But the charge flew wild and high, and 
 a black hole appeared in the upper part 
 of the sail. The report was followed by 
 a yell of pain, and the big gun clattered 
 on the rocks. Gandy staggered back. 
 The breech of the gun had blown out, 
 and a fragment of it had shattered his 
 arm. In a moment, however, he recov- 
 ered himself and rushed desperately at 
 the face of the bluff. 
 
 The boys saw at once what had hap- 
 pened. 
 
 " We've got him now," said Reube, 
 sternly. His sense of justice quenched 
 all sense of pity. 
 
 " Yes," remarked Will, " he can't climb 
 the rocks with that arm ; and now that 
 he can't fire that clumsy weapon of his, 
 he's no longer dangerous. We'll just take 
 him prisoner!" 
 
 Meanwhile the Dido was dashing 
 straight on to the Point, trusting to Prov- 
 idence that she would strike a soft spot. 
 
THE SHOT FROM THE ROCKS. 
 
 131 
 
 > 
 
 But with Gandy disabled there was no need 
 of this desperate haste, so Reube steered 
 for a place where he knew there was nei- 
 ther reef nor honey pot, but a slope of 
 firm sand. He was too much occupied 
 in the delicate task of making a safe land- 
 ing for the Dido to observe what Gandy 
 was doing. But Will v/atched the actions 
 of the latter, with a cold smile on his 
 finely cut mouth. 
 
 " He is a coward, every time, when it 
 comes to the pinch!" was his remark. 
 " See him now, too scared to meet us like 
 a man, and struggling like a whipped cur 
 to climb those rocks and get away ! He 
 can't do it, though ! " 
 
 Indeed, Mart Gandy at this moment 
 realized the fact which gave Will such 
 satisfaction. With his right arm broken, 
 he could not make his way to the top of 
 the bluff. Like a hunted animal, he turned 
 and glared with eyes of hate and fear 
 upon his adversaries. Again he looked 
 at the rocks, turning his head quickly 
 from side to side. And then, with a 
 
 m 
 
 
132 
 
 KKUUt: DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 toil.' 
 
 shrill, fierce cry, he darted out straight 
 across the flats toward the head of the 
 cove. 
 
 " He'll get away after all," remarked 
 Reube. , 
 
 " Get away, indeed ! " muttered Will. 
 " It's in the very thick of the honey pots 
 he'll be in less than half a minute, or I'm 
 much mistaken. There ! " 
 
 As he spoke, Gandy was seen to throw 
 himself violently backward. It was just 
 in time. As he tore himself by a mighty 
 wrench from the engulfing slime he strug- 
 gled to his feet, swerved to one side, and 
 ran on, 
 
 Reube drew a long breath of relief; 
 and Will said, dispassionately : 
 
 " That was well done. It was sharp." 
 
 Just then the Dido ran up on the sand, 
 and stopped with a shock that would 
 have pitched Will overboard if he had 
 not grasped the mast. 
 
 " Now we've done it, Reube ! " he ex- 
 claimed. " We're aground hard and fast, 
 just when there's no longer any need of 
 
TIIK SHOT FROM THE ROCKS. 
 
 133 
 
 being here. I fancy we won't undertake 
 to follow Mr. Gandy through these honey 
 pots." 
 
 Reube made no direct answer. He 
 was on his feet watching the fugitive, 
 anxiously. 
 
 "Ah-h-h !" he cried, "he's got it. He'll 
 never get through that patch of death 
 traps along there." 
 
 The words were scarcely out of his 
 mouth when Gandy seemed to wallow 
 forward as if the ground had given way 
 beneath him. With a mighty heave of 
 his body he tried to throw himself back- 
 ward as he had done before. But this 
 time he was too late. The hungry, green- 
 ish-red ooze but lipped and clung to him 
 more greedily. He flung himself flat, 
 rolled on his side, and strove to drag one 
 leg free. With the effort his other leg 
 sank up to the thigh. Then he lifted his 
 face and uttered a shriek of heart-shak- 
 ing horror. 
 
 Reube and Will sprang out upon the 
 sand, Will grabbing up the boat hook as 
 
134 
 
 REUBE dare's SHAD BOAT. 
 
 he did so. Reube snatched it from his 
 hand. 
 
 " Go back " he cried, " and get a rope, 
 and follow me carefully right in my tracks. 
 I know this cove and you don't." 
 
 The next moment he was speeding 
 like the wind to the spot where Gandy 
 lay writhing in that inexorable grasp. 
 
RESCUED FROM THE HONEY POTS. 1 35 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Gandy is Rescued from the Honey Pots. 
 
 \1 /"ILL was but a few seconds in get- 
 ^ ' ting the necessary rope out of the 
 cuddy. Then, taking an oar with him, 
 he followed Reube as fast as he could 
 run, casting wary eyes at the oily patches 
 which were dotted around his path. 
 
 The wretch in the honey pots had evi- 
 dently no thought that his enemies would 
 attempt his rescue. When he saw them 
 approaching he thought they came to 
 mock him or to gloat over his last agony, 
 and he nerved himself to control the ter- 
 ror which had unmanned him. Then he 
 saw the boat hook, the oar, the rope, and 
 he knew that these meant help if help 
 were possible. A wild hope, mixed with 
 wonder, lit up his deep-set eyes. Could 
 it be that Reube Dare would try to save 
 him after all that he had done ? To let 
 him perish would be just, and so easy 
 and so safe. To help him would be per- 
 
136 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 M 
 
 ilous indeed, for no one could go among 
 the honey pots without taking his life in 
 his hands; and yet here was Reube, here 
 was that interfering Carter chap, running 
 toward him as if there were no such things 
 as honey pots. He could not understand 
 it. The deadly mud was suckine, suck- 
 ing, sucking at his feet, his knees, his 
 thighs. It was like dumb, insatiable 
 tongues of strange monsters curling about 
 him. Nevertheless, he half forgot the 
 horror in a new feeling which broke upon 
 his spirit, and this emotion spoke in his 
 eyes as Reube arrived at the edge of the 
 honey pot. Reube saw it, and it insen- 
 sibly softened his voice as he said : 
 
 " Keep up your nerve now, and we'll 
 get you out all right." At the same time 
 he stretched out the boat hook, which 
 Mart grasped with desperate strength, 
 pressing it to his breast with his one 
 sound arm. 
 
 Flinging all his weight into the pull, 
 Reube surged mightily on the boat hook. 
 But his utmost force produced no effect. 
 
RESCUED FROM THE HONEY POTS. I37 
 
 The pull of the twisting mud was might- 
 ier. Instead of extricating Gandy, even 
 by an inch, he found himself sinking. He 
 was on treacherous ground. With a 
 quick wrench he freed the leg that was 
 caught by dragging it from its boot. 
 Then, leaving the boot where it was, he 
 ran around to the other side of the honey 
 pot and felt for firm standing ground. 
 
 As he did so. Will came up breathing 
 quickly. 
 
 " Be keerful on your right ! " cried 
 Gandy, sharply, and Will sprang aside, 
 just avoiding a bad spot. 
 
 " Thanks, Gandy," he remarked, in a 
 casual way, as if Gandy had picked up 
 his hat for him or handed him a match. 
 Then he flung a coil of rope, saying: 
 
 " Fix the end of that under your arms ; 
 fix it firm, so that it won't slip." 
 
 Then he went round the honey pot 
 to where Reube was standing, with pale 
 brow knitted closely. 
 
 "What are we going to do?" asked 
 Reube. " I can't budge him." 
 
 ii 
 
 I 
 
138 
 
 KEUBE dare's SHAD BOAT. 
 
 W 
 
 Gandy, in spite of shattered arm, had 
 succeeded in fastening the rope about his 
 waist, and now, placing the long, light 
 shaft of the boat hook in front of him, 
 was bearing down upon it as hard as he 
 could. 
 
 " That's a good idea," cried Will. " But 
 here, Mart, the oar will be better because 
 it's bigger round and flat in the blade. 
 Fling us the boat hook and take the oar ! " 
 
 These efforts, though they had not at 
 all availed to extricate the victim, had 
 kept him from being dragged further 
 down. With the oar he was able to ex- 
 ert his strength to more advantage. Will 
 now made a loop in the rope and passed 
 the handle of the boat hook through it. 
 Then, one on each side of the rope, and 
 each with the shaft across his breast, so 
 that the whole formed a sort of rude har- 
 ness. Will and Reube bent their bodies 
 to the pull like oxen in a yoke. At the 
 same time Gandy, using his unwounded 
 arm, lifted with all the force that despair 
 could give him. 
 
RESCUED FROM THE HONEY POTS. 1 39 
 
 For two or thret seconds there was no 
 result. Was it all to be in vain ? Then 
 from Candy's white lips came a gasping 
 cry of " She gives ! " and slowly, slowly at 
 first, then with a sudden yielding which 
 nearly threw the rescuers to the ground, 
 that terrible hold gave way, and Gandy 
 was jerked forward upon solid ground. 
 
 White and panting from the strain, 
 they turned to free him from the rope. 
 He had fainted and lay as if dead. The 
 anguish of his wound and of his terror 
 and the gigantic effort which he had just 
 put forth had overcome him. 
 
 " Let's get the poor wretch down to the 
 water," proposed Will. 
 
 " We'll take him right aboard theZ^/V/^, 
 where we can see to his arm and fix him 
 a place in the cuddy," said Reube. " The 
 Didds hard and fast now for another six 
 hours, so we can take our time. But I 
 wish we could get the chap to a doctor 
 sooner than that." 
 
 So saying, he picked up Candy's long 
 form and walked with it easily down to 
 
140 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 t«i 
 
 the boat. The wounded man was still 
 unconscious. A bed of quilts was fixed 
 for him, and Reube was just about to 
 cut the sleeve from his shirt to examine 
 the arm and bathe it when Will cried : 
 
 " Hold on a minute, Reube. The way 
 the boat lies now I think we can pry her 
 off with the oar. See how the sands dip 
 away on the outside." 
 
 He was right. Using the big oar as a 
 lever, they got the Dido afloat in a very 
 few moments. Then Reube said : 
 
 " You sail the boat. Will, and I'll see to 
 the patient." 
 
 " You had better let me attend to him 
 while you steer," suggested Will. 
 
 " No," said Reube ; " he's my own pri- 
 vate enemy, and I must look after him 
 myself. You see to the boat." And Will 
 obeyed without more ado. 
 
 Had they been watching Gaudy's face 
 they would have seen the eyes open and 
 instantly close again. But Reube was 
 delicately cutting the sleeve away, and 
 Will was watching the process, the sail. 
 
RESCUED FROM THE HONEY POTS. 14I 
 
 and the Didds course all at the same 
 time. Gandy was conscious, but in a faint 
 way he was wondering over the situation 
 in which he found himself. Presently he 
 heard Will speak agai.i : 
 
 " Well, now you've got him, and the 
 poor rascal is a good deal worse for wear. 
 I can't for the life of me see what you're 
 going to do with him." 
 
 Will's voice was kind, in a bantering 
 way. He found it hard to maintain a 
 proper degree of righteous indignation 
 against a man whose life he had just 
 saved. And that helpless arm he could 
 not but contemplate with pity. 
 
 " I'm going to get him home anc(| into 
 the doctor's hands," said Reube. "It 
 seems to me he's punished enough this 
 time, and maybe he'll realize it. Any- 
 way, I'm not going to take action against 
 him after all the trouble we've had to 
 save him. We'll just say nothing about 
 that shot from the rocks till we see how 
 he turns out when he gets well. If 
 there's any good in him, this experience 
 10 
 
142 
 
 REUBE DARE S SHAD BOAT. 
 
 ■A 
 
 ought to bring it out. And there must 
 be some good streak in a fellow that's 
 faithful to his family the way Mart is." 
 
 By this time the arm was bare, and 
 Reube was bathing it tenderly. Then, 
 covering the wound with a wet compress, 
 he bandaged it loosely and rose to fix a 
 shelter over the patient's face. To his 
 amazement the tears were rolling down 
 Gandy's sallow cheeks. 
 
 "What's the matter, Mart.? Feeling 
 worse ? " he inquired, anxiously. 
 
 But Gandy made no reply. He cov- 
 ered his face with his one available arm, 
 and Reube could perceive his thin lips 
 working strangely. Having seen that he 
 was as comfortable as he knew how to 
 make him, Reube seated himself by Will 
 in the stern. Save for a few chance and 
 commonplace remarks, there was silence 
 between the two comrades for an hour, 
 while the Dido sped merrily homeward. 
 They had enough to occupy their 
 thoughts in that day's adventures, but 
 thev did not wish to talk of what their 
 
RESCUED FROM THE HONEY POTS. I43 
 
 captive could hardly like to hear about. 
 At last Will remarked : 
 
 " It's warm, Reube, and your patient 
 must be thirsty." 
 
 " That's so," said Reube, springing up. 
 With a tin of fresh water he stepped over 
 to Gandy's side, slipped an arm under his 
 head to raise it, and said : 
 
 " Here, Mart, take a sup to cool your 
 lips. They look parched." 
 
 Instead of complying, Gandy grasped 
 and clung to the hand that held the cup. 
 
 " Forgive me," he begged. " Reube 
 Dare, forgive me. I never knowed what 
 I was doin'. To think of all I've done 
 to you, an' then you to treat me like 
 this!" And he covered his face again. 
 
 " Mart," said Reube, more moved than 
 he was willing to let appear, " never mind 
 about that now. We'll let bygones be 
 bygones. Here's my hand on it." And 
 he grasped the hand that hid Mart's eyes. 
 
 In his weakness Gandy was so over- 
 come that he tried to laugh just while he 
 was struggling not to cry, and he made a 
 
144 
 
 REUBE dare's SHAD BOAT. 
 
 poor mixture of the attempt. But, rais- 
 inor himself for a second on his elbow, he 
 managed to murmur unsteadily : 
 
 " I can't talk, but, 'fore God, I'll show 
 you both what I think of yous." 
 
 And Mart Gandy kept his word through 
 after years of loyal devotion to these two 
 young men who on this day had taught 
 him a new knowledge of the human 
 heart. An ambition to seem worthy in 
 their eyes led him to mend his life, and 
 the Gandy name soon grew in favor 
 throughout the Tantramar countryside. 
 
 As for the Dido, fate looked kindly on 
 her trips all that season and for sev- 
 eral seasons thereafter. That autumn 
 Reube took his mother to Boston. Mrs. 
 Carter, with Will and Ted, went at the 
 same time ; and after a simple operation, 
 much less painful than had been ex- 
 pected, Mrs. Dare regained the perfect use 
 of her eyes. On their return to the Tan- 
 tramar Will and Ted set out agfain for 
 college, and this time Reube went with 
 them. His Dido had proved herself a 
 
RESCUED FROM THE IIOXEV POTS. 145 
 
 fair match for the new marsh in the mat- 
 ter of giving her master an education. 
 During successive summer holidays she 
 carried Reube and Will and Ted on 
 many a profitable and merry trip, but 
 never again did she experience one so 
 eventful as that with which she began her 
 career as a Tantramar shad boat.'' 
 
 THE END.